Tom Cruise pays tribute to late Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer
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Tom Cruise (left) and Val Kilmer acted together in Top Gun (1986) and its sequel Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
PHOTOS: REUTERS, AFP
LAS VEGAS - American actor Tom Cruise paid tribute to his late Top Gun co-star, Val Kilmer, on April 3, remembering him as a talented actor who loved movies.
Cruise, 62, opened his appearance at the CinemaCon industry convention in Las Vegas with remarks about his “dear friend” Kilmer, who died on April 1 at age 65.
“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 honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick,“ Cruise said. “He loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us with his performances.”
In 1986 film Top Gun, Kilmer played naval aviator Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, a rival to Cruise’s character, Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Kilmer reprised the role in 2022 hit Top Gun: Maverick, when he could barely speak after years of battling throat cancer.
Cruise asked the Cinemacon audience to pause in a moment of silence to remember Kilmer’s work.
“Thank you for doing that,” he said. “I know he’d appreciate that.”
Cruise attended CinemaCon to promote Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, which will be released by Paramount in May. REUTERS
