Tom Cruise breaks silence on ‘dear friend’ and Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer’s shock death aged 65
TOM Cruise has broken his silence after his ‘dear friend’ and Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer’s shock death, aged 65.
Actor Tom, 62, played Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell alongside Val’s Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the 1986 classic, with the pair reuniting onscreen for 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.
At CinemaCon 2025, held at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Tom took a moment to honor his late friend.
According to Variety, he said: “I’d like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honored I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.”
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him. I wish you well on the next journey.”
Tom, visibly emotional, lowered his head and clasped his hands as he spoke on stage.
The action star had been at the event to promote his upcoming film, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which is set to open on May 23.
In 2022, Tom had spoken about how pleased he was to have Val join him on Top Gun: Maverick.
He said on Jimmy Kimmel Live: “I just want to say that was pretty emotional. I’ve known Val for decades.
“For him to come back and play that character… he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again. You’re looking at Iceman.”
Val, who rose to fame in the 1980s with roles in films such as Batman Forever and The Doors, died on Tuesday from complications related to pneumonia following a long battle with health issues.
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, he spent the later years of his life mostly out of the public eye.
After undergoing aggressive treatment, which included a tracheotomy, chemotherapy and radiation, Val was left with a permanent change to his voice, but his spirit remained unbroken.
And in 2022, he treated fans to the most heart-tugging reunion when he made a near-miraculous comeback in Top Gun: Maverick alongside his old sparring partner, Tom.
Grown men were left in tears watching the American star return to the role that first made him famous in 1986.
The original transformed the then-unknown Val into Hollywood’s hottest hunk, whose high-profile flings included Cher, Cindy Crawford, Daryl Hannah, Ellen Barkin, and Angelina Jolie.
But a reputation for being difficult to work with, financial woes and a brush with death appeared to wreck all hopes of ever seeing Val in a blockbuster again.
Thanks, though, due to radical new artificial voice technology the actor was able to talk again.
Despite that, convincing the sequel’s producers that he was fit to return to active duty was a tough task for the never-say-die movie veteran.
Val insisted, rightly, that there was no Top Gun without Iceman.
He stated: “Tom was Maverick, but Maverick’s nemesis was Iceman. The two went together like salt and pepper.
“It didn’t matter that the producers didn’t contact me. As the Temptations sang in the heyday of Motown soul, ‘ain’t too proud to beg.'”
Thought Top Gun was ‘silly’
That certainly wasn’t Val’s attitude when he read the script for the original.
He thought it was “silly” and had to accept the role because he was under contract with the studio.
At that point Val had only appeared in two comedies, Top Secret! And Real Genius.
The precocious, then 26-year-old, newcomer didn’t play it safe, choosing to ad-lib lines and deliberately create off-screen tension with Tom.
He reportedly formed a team Iceman camp to rival anyone on the Maverick side and went off partying while Tom diligently learned his script.
Val said: “Tom refrained from our revelry, with good reason. From day one, he was laser-focused on a singular goal – to become the greatest action hero in the history of film.”
Reluctantly taking the role proved to be a fortuitous break because Top Gun was the biggest box office hit of 1986 and Val’s line “you can be my wingman any time” is part of pop culture.
Inside Kilmer's health battles
BY Milad Sherzad, Sun News Reporter
VAL Kilmer was left using an electronic voice box and feeding tube after bravely battling throat cancer before his death aged 65.
The legendary actor began his battle in 2014 and later underwent chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery.
This tough fight forced him to step back from the Hollywood spotlight for a number of years.
After undergoing both radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the star underwent a tracheostomy in 2015 to help him breathe.
This procedure permanently damaged his vocal cords and left the iconic actor’s voice forever altered.
He was forced to use an electric voice box on the artificial hole in his throat in order to speak.
Kilmer would cover his neck in a scarf following the surgery to hide the device.
In a candid Amazon Prime documentary entitled Val, the Top Gun and Batman Forever star said: “I obviously am sounding much worse than I feel.
“I can’t speak without plugging this hole [in his throat].”
When asked what he missed most about his voice, Kilmer joked about how he “didn’t laugh like a pirate” before the surgery.
The actor also faced numerous other challenges, including having meals given to him through a feeding tube.
He said: “You have to make the choice to breathe or to eat. It’s an obstacle that is very present with whoever sees me.”
He had initially kept his cancer diagnosis secret before revealing his struggles in 2021.
He explained how he was unaware of his throat cancer until he coughed up “coagulated blood” one day and was rushed to hospital after passing out.
‘I have behaved poorly’
Two years later the ladies’ man met his future wife, British actress Joanne Whalley, on the set of Willow and they had two children, Mercedes and Jack.
His insistence on staying in character caused problems both for his marriage and his co-stars.
For the whole year he played tragic rocker Jim Morrison in The Doors he didn’t break out of the part on set or at home or prize himself out of the same leather trousers.
During an audition for the 1991 film with actress Caitlin O’Heaney he allegedly got so caught up in the moment that he slapped her, which resulted in a financial settlement.
Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher described Val, who only played the caped crusader once, as “psychotic” and The Island of Dr Moreau director John Frankenheimer said: “There are two things I will never ever do in my whole life: I will never climb Mt. Everest and I will never work with Val Kilmer ever again.”
Val acknowledged that, perhaps, he overstepped the mark now and again.
He said in a recent documentary: “I have behaved poorly, I have behaved bravely, I have behaved bizarrely to some.”
Val is survived by his daughter, Mercedes, and son, Jack, from his marriage to actress Joanne Whalley.
His passing was confirmed by Mercedes on Tuesday.