Following Val Kilmer’s unexpected death this week at the age of 65, Tom Cruise paid a heartfelt homage to his co-star on Top Gun.
In the 1986 classic, Cruise, 62, costarred with Kilmer’s Tom “Iceman” Kazansky as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The two will reunite on screen in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.
‘I’d like to celebrate a good friend of mine, Val Kilmer,’ Cruise stated as she took the stage at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace’s Colosseum, Per Variety.
When he joined Top Gun and returned for Top Gun: Maverick, I was so honored and grateful for his work that words cannot express how much I love it.
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He liked movies and offered a lot to all of us, so I believe it would be wonderful if we could spend a little time together. Simply reflect on all of the amazing moments we shared with him.
“Good luck on your upcoming journey.”
During CinemaCon 2025 at The Colosseum, Cruise placed his hands together and lowered his head.
The action hero was there to promote Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, his upcoming movie that opens on May 23.
In 2022, Tom had expressed his happiness that Kilmer had joined him on Top Gun: Maverick.
That was quite emotional, I just wanted to say that. On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Cruise stated, “I’ve known Val for decades.” He’s such a strong actor that he instantaneously transformed back into that character when he returned to play it. Iceman is what you’re looking at.
Cruise ‘was the driving force’ to convince Kilmer to appear on the picture, according to Jerry Bruckheimer, the film’s producer, who spoke to People in 2021.
After a protracted struggle with health concerns, Val, who gained notoriety in the 1980s for parts in movies including Batman Forever and The Doors, passed away from pneumonia-related complications.
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After receiving a throat cancer diagnosis in 2015, Val lived a mostly private life in his last years.
Val is survived by his son Jack and daughter Mercedes, whom he had with actress Joanne Whalley.
Mercedes announced his death on Tuesday.
This comes one day after Kilmer was honored by another well-known figure. On Wednesday, Michelle Pfeiffer sent a charming message on social media.
A black-and-white photo of Pfeiffer and Val from the set of the 1985 ABC Afterschool Special One Too Many was shared online by the 66-year-old.
‘Rest in peace, Val.’ she commented beside the picture.
The two performers developed a deep bond that lasted for decades after initially meeting while filming the special, which addressed the risks associated with underage drinking.
In his memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry, published in 2020, Val talked candidly about his relationship with Pfeiffer. “The secret pain that Michelle and I shared created an intimacy between us,” he said, describing their bond.
Michelle told him about the problems in her marriage to Peter Horton, whom she later divorced, while he disclosed that he had felt at ease sharing with her his tense relationship with his parents.
Despite his positive writing about Michelle, Val said that he had always been attracted to her younger sister, Lori Pfeiffer, who is currently 59.
‘I had an all-consuming infatuation on her younger sister Lori, who did not seem to reciprocate, even a little,’ he said in his memoir. “She didn’t even appear to be aware that I existed.”
The specifics of Michelle and Val’s relationship are still unknown, despite persistent rumors to the contrary. However, in a 2018 Instagram post, Val shared the same photo Michelle used in her tribute as a way to reflect on their time together.
Online, he stated: “My first girlfriend in high school, Mare Winningham, and her husband, Peter, introduced me to Michelle.”
“Working with all three of these talented individuals on a single ‘after school special’ was truly incredible.” From what I recall, this was always a morality play intended to teach children right after school.
Other than her Instagram post, Michelle has not made any public remarks about Val.
Val Kilmer’s final interview before losing his voice has been made public, revealing his devastating last comments.
After being diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, the Hollywood icon underwent surgery, including a tracheotomy, which created an artificial hole in his neck to help him breathe. He died of pneumonia on Tuesday at the age of 65.
Nevertheless, this had a major effect on his speech, permanently harming his vocal cords and changing his speaking voice.
His final interview, said to have been taped in 2014, was with Norwegian television at Val’s Malibu residence before the life-altering procedure.
Val revealed in a devastating way during the reflective conversation that he wished he had been a “better person” and “loved more” when he was younger.
“I was a dumb actor,” he admitted, admitting that he was a pain to work with. I used to grumble a lot when I was younger.
I didn’t value the business that allowed me to live the kind of life I soon came to love. In a flash. It was my first film as a star. In my first professional play, I played the lead.
And I wish I loved more now that I don’t have the luxury. My goal is to improve myself. I make an effort to learn how to be more thankful every day.
Val’s memorable roles in Batman, The Doors, and Top Gun made him one among Hollywood’s most well-known leading men of the 1990s.
Over the years, he developed a reputation as passionate, obsessive, exacting, and occasionally narcissistic, but his career was marred by a string of failures and several arguments with directors and co-stars.
When the reporter asked him in his last interview how he was so self-satisfied, Val said, “In every way.”
“I had ideas and insecurities about myself that I projected onto the film industry,” he added. Only the sounds that came out of my mouth. So ridiculous. utterly improbable. I had a wicked twin, apparently.
The journalist questioned, “Do you think that people found it difficult to work with you?”
He laughed at himself once again as he said, “Yeah, what’s the one past difficult…impossible.”
‘Yeah, I’m kind of blacklisted,’ the actor said, describing how his career dried up. It’s been fifteen years since I obtained a studio job.
‘Yeah, I’d always watched movies and wondered what I’d be like in that part,’ Val said when asked if he intended to work in the profession.
“Will you act differently when you return?” “Yes,” he acknowledged when the interviewer asked. in the manner that leads to my employment.
After Val was diagnosed with throat cancer, he had to have an emergency tracheotomy, which permanently altered his voice.
He was sent to the hospital after coughing up blood in 2014, where he underwent chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and two emergency tracheotomies, which involve making a hole in the neck and windpipe to implant a breathing tube.
After the procedures, he had to press a finger to the opening in his throat in order to talk and be understood because the malignancy had made his tongue swell and blocked his lymphatic pathways.
In 2020, the celebrity disclosed that he had been cancer-free for four years, but his speech was irreversibly damaged by the tracheotomies.
In his 2021 Prime documentary, Val, he talked candidly about his problems with using an electronic voice box to communicate after losing his natural voice.
In order to help people with throat cancer communicate, voice box devices are often battery-operated devices that generate sound to create a voice.
After withdrawing from the spotlight, he tearfully acknowledged that during his protracted recuperation from throat cancer, which also required him to get his meals via a tube, it was “difficult to talk and be understood.”
During his documentary, Val used his voice box to say, “I’ve tried to see the world, as one piece of life.”
The Batman actor claimed that although communication grew more challenging, it was no different from any other struggle he had in life.
“I’m doing fantastically.” In a 2020 interview with Good Morning America, he said, “I feel a lot better than I sound.”
Amazingly, artificial intelligence (AI) technology was employed to reproduce Val’s voice when he made an emotional comeback to the big screen in the 2022 Top Gun sequel.
Val was able to speak in daily life by using a convincing yet artificial voice mock-up built by London-based artificial intelligence company Sonantic.
‘I’m grateful to the entire team at Sonantic who brilliantly restored my voice in a way I’ve never believed possible,’ the celebrity said, praising the outcome.
Since communication is essential to our existence as humans, the consequences of throat cancer have made it challenging for others to comprehend me.
The opportunity to share my narrative in a voice that seems genuine and familiar is a really unique gift.
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