Tom Cruise shares 'joyous' Val Kilmer Top Gun reunion before star's death

Actor has paid tribute to the late , who passed away last month following a series of health complications. The 62 year old star appeared in the reboot of Top Gun, titled Top Gun: Maverick, as Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, alongside Val Kilmer as Iceman, in 2022.

Both actors starred in the original film in 1986 and nearly two decades later they reunited. But sadly, Val passed away at the age of 65 from complication related to pneumonia. Tom recalled the moment as a "joyous" one.

Speaking to Sight and Sound magazine, the father of three said: "To come back all those years later, and it was amazing being on set for Top Gun: Maverick because it was like time had not passed. We were laughing and it was joyous."

He added: "And then we started acting and it’s just, you see it… he became Iceman. The power that this guy has, even not saying anything, to become that character. You see how even the sniff that he gave. He was Iceman."

Tom continued: "And you saw the dynamic between these friends. It was very special, to say the least, for me personally. I just tell people… "

He then said: "You take Iceman from the first film and you look at it here, that whole journey, he became Iceman. And he didn’t even have to speak."

The Hollywood star, who has a string of blockbuster films under his belt, said: "That’s what he’s able to do. Beautiful, really beautiful. A gift that he had and that he shared with all of us."

And while Val made his mark in film with a number of roles over the years, Tom claimed things could have been different as Val had originally turned down the role of Iceman.

He told the publication: "I felt so grateful that he decided to make the film. We did a lot to get him in the movie. Originally, he just didn’t want to make the movie, 'I don’t want to be a supporting, I want to star in films'."

And it was at this point Tom remembered that he had been calling Val's agent and a gentleman named Tony Scott tracked him down and cornered him in an elevator.

Begging the actor to star in the film, Tom said he knew it had to be Val to take on the role because "you just see what a great actor, charismatic guy he was."

He went on to say: "And in that scene, what I love about what he did and how he played it, he just knew that tone to hit."

Tom continued: "He had to play it so you wanted these guys to be friends in the end. Do you know what I’m saying? And I remember those scenes like they were yesterday, acting with him, where he did the bite thing. "

"You know when you’re acting with somebody and you just see they’re just on fire. It’s exhilarating. I love when the scene just goes to a different place," he said.

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