Cruise and Kilmer played Tom “Iceman” Kazansky opposite of Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the 1986 film ‘Top Gun’
Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise forged a special bond during Top Gun that would last decades.
Kilmer died of pneumonia at the age of 65 on Tuesday, April 1, and though he may not have initially wanted to take on the role of Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the hit 1986 film, it is still one of his most memorable roles and one that left a lasting impression on his Top Gun costar.
In the wake of Kilmer’s death, Cruise’s 2023 interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live is getting renewed attention.
During his appearance on the late-night talk show, Cruise, now 62, recalled the “emotional” moment of seeing Kilmer on the set of 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick following his throat cancer diagnosis in 2014 and subsequent recovery. “I just want to say that was pretty emotional,” he shared at the time.
Cruise added, “I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character… he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again.”
“You’re just looking at Iceman,” Cruise added of Kilmer’s cameo in Top Gun: Maverick, which sees Cruise’s character, Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, seeking out Admiral Kazansky for advice on how to handle the film’s top secret, high-risk mission.
“I was crying, I was crying. I got emotional,” Cruise admitted, after Kimmel asked whether he cried while filming the scene. “He’s such a brilliant actor, I love his work.”
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Amid the film’s release in May 2022, Cruise opened up to PEOPLE about just how much it “meant” to him to reunite with Kilmer for the sequel. “I’ve always admired his work, his talent,” the actor said at the time, adding: “We get together… we just start laughing. It was special to have him back. It meant a lot to me.”
Kilmer previously admitted in his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry, “I didn’t want the part. I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me.” He added that he only did it because his agent “tortured me into at least meeting Tony Scott, saying he was one of the hottest directors in town.”
In the 2021 documentary Val, Kilmer reflected on his initial thoughts of the script, saying that he thought the movie’s script was “silly” and “disliked warmongering.” He added that he “didn’t really have a choice” about accepting the role though due to being “under contract with the studio.” Kilmer also said that there was “very little” to the character of Iceman so he invented his own backstory.
“None of us knew at the time what a crazy commercial success the film would be,” he said. “All of a sudden I was being catapulted into the celebrity stratosphere, and for the rest of my life I would be called Iceman by every pilot at every airport I went to.”
Despite his initial reservations about appearing in the 1986 movie, he said he was happy to be included in the sequel. In 2022, he told PEOPLE that being back was “like being reunited with a long-lost friend.”
Kilmer added, “The characters never really go away. They live on in deep freeze. If you’ll pardon the pun.”
