A bond larger than the sky.
“Top Gun: Maverick” star Tom Cruise revealed he was overcome with emotion when he reunited with Val Kilmer, who reprised his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, during a scene in last 12 months’s box office behemoth.
“I’ve known Val for a long time, and for him to come back back and play that character — he’s such a robust actor that he immediately became that character again. You’re taking a look at Iceman,” Cruise, who starred as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell said Friday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“I used to be crying. I got emotional. He’s such an excellent actor, and I like his work,” Cruise added.
Kilmer, 63, confirmed he had throat cancer in April 2017 and was battling the illness since 2015.
Though the actor has been cancer free nearly six years, the results of radiation, chemotherapy treatment, and a tracheotomy surgery severely impacted his speaking ability.
Kilmer had limited dialogue within the film but spoke with the assistance of artificial intelligence models, in response to Variety.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced each “Top Guns,” said Cruise was determined to incorporate Kilmer within the film.
“All of us wanted him, but Tom was really adamant that if he’s going to make one other ‘Top Gun,’ Val needed to be in it,” Bruckheimer told People in 2021.
Bruckheimer also called the reunion between Maverick and Iceman “very emotional,” saying, “It was an extended time getting there, but we did.”
In Kilmer’s 2020 memoir, “I’m Your Huckleberry,” the actor shared his thoughts on the sequel being made 35 years after the unique.
“He was calling it ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’ Well, Tom was Maverick, but Maverick’s nemesis was Iceman. The 2 went together like salt and pepper,” Kilmer wrote. “It didn’t matter that the producers didn’t contact me. Because the Temptations sang within the heyday of Motown soul, ‘Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.’”
“Top Gun: Maverick” has been nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Adaptive Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound, in next month’s Academy Awards ceremony at Hollywood’s iconic Dolby Theatre.
The film grossed nearly $1.5 billion on the box office worldwide.
In December 2022, prior to the film’s release on Paramount+, Cruise thanked fans of the franchise for making the film a box-office smash while casually freefalling from the sky.