Tom Cruise is presenting his respects to his former co -star and “dear friend” Val Kilmer.
The actor appeared in Cinemacon Thursday in Las Vegas to promote “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.” But before impressing the audience with an advance of the next action movie, Cruise asked for a moment of silence for the late actor who died on Tuesday.
“I would like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer,” said Cruise, 62, according to E! News. “I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honest was when he joined ‘Top Gun’ and later returned for ‘Top Gun: Maverick'”.
Kilmer portrayed Lieutenant Tom “Iceman” Kazanski in the 1986 “Top Gun” movie starring Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The two were rival combat pilots who finally became friends.
The film catapulted the races of Kilmer and Cruise, which led to a large amount of box office for the two film stars.
When the sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick” was launched in 2022, Kilmer made a brief cameo like Iceman. The role would be your final credit.
During Cinemacon, Cruise took a moment to reflect on the friendship and success of Kilmer.
“I think it would be really good if we could have a moment together because they loved the movies and gave us all,” he said. “Just think of all the wonderful moments we had with him.”
MY! News reported that Cruise praised Kilmer for his ability to tell stories and compared it to producer Irving Thalberg, a pioneer in the first years of cinema.
“This man forged everything and could create epic adventures for the global public,” Cruise said. “You are an artist forever. You are our modern Thalberg.”
In a 2022 interview with Collider, Kilmer said it was a “pleasure” to have been able to repeat his role as Iceman and work with Cruise.
“We are paid for acting and that is what we did on the scene,” Kilmer said. “But doing it with a class act like Tom did a pleasure, and less like work!”
Kilmer died at the age of 65 years of pneumonia, said his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, to The Associated Press.
The “The Doors” star had been previously diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015. Although he had maintained his diagnosis in private at that time, he shared it with the world in a 2021 documentary entitled “Val” that reported his health problems.
Kilmer underwent a tracheotomy, which affected his ability to speak, and used a voice box to speak. In his “Top Gun: Maverick” scene, Iceman is also fighting cancer when Maverick makes him a visit and asks for his advice to send a crew member to a possible fatal mission. Iceman is seen writing: “It’s time to let him go,” and Maverick says emotionally: “I don’t know how.”
He also has a speech line that, according to his daughter, was called with the use of the Sonantic software company, which recreated his voice.
While Kilmer shared that he was cancer free in 2021, his family did not share if his pneumonia was related to his battle of throat cancer.
