Val Kilmer, ‘Top Gun,’ ‘Batman Forever’ star, dies at 65
Val Kilmer portrayed larger-than-life characters, such as Jim Morrison, Doc Holliday and Batman, throughout his prolific acting career.
LAS VEGAS – Tom Cruise is paying tribute to his “Top Gun” co-star Val Kilmer.
“I really can’t tell you how much I admired his work, how much I thought of him as a human being, and how grateful and honored I was when he joined ‘Top Gun’ and then came back to ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ ” Cruise told a packed house at CinemaCon, the convention of theater owners, on Thursday.
Cruise asked for a moment of silence for Kilmer, who died Tuesday at age 65, to “think about all the wonderful times that we had with him. He loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us with his performances.”
Cruise concluded his message by saying, “Thank you, Val. I wish you well on the next journey.”
Kilmer played rival Iceman to Cruise’s fighter pilot Maverick in “Top Gun” in 1986. The actors reprised their iconic roles decades later in an emotional scene in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The star’s role in the original movie almost didn’t happen, despite director Tony Scott lobbying hard for Kilmer. But the headstrong young actor resisted and tried to tank his audition.
“I didn’t want the part. I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me,” Kilmer wrote in his 2020 memoir “I’m Your Huckleberry.”
Cruise was on hand at CinemaCon to promote the eighth “Mission: Impossible” movie, “The Final Reckoning” (in theaters May 23).
Contributing: Bryan Alexander and Kim Willis
Leave a Reply