Val Kilmer opens up on Top Gun: Maverick’s Iceman scene with Tom Cruise

News
By published

"I was very moved the first time I saw it"

Top Gun
(Image credit: Paramount)

Iceman actor Val Kilmer has addressed his decades-in-the-making reunion with Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick.

In the legacy sequel, Kilmer’s Iceman – now an Admiral in the US Navy after graduating through Top Gun as Maverick’s wingman in the 1986 original – comes calling after Mav has doubts about leading his new cluster of recruits. Mirroring Kilmer’s own real-life health battles, Iceman struggles to speak, instead typing his pep talk to Maverick on his computer. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house – and that extends to Kilmer.

"I was very moved the first time I saw it. Almost 40 years is a long time for a reunion," Kilmer tells USA Today. "We laughed all day. Tom is great and surprisingly funny!"

Speaking on the Inside Total Film podcast, director Joseph Kosinski revealed that working with Kilmer was a "dream come true."

"To do it with him playing Iceman and to be able to do it in a scene where he and Tom are together, two people who have so much respect for each other, and to have it be a reunion of not only two characters, but two men in real life… [It was a] really emotional day, a really memorable day on set," Kosinski said.

Top Gun: Maverick was also a personal milestone for Tom Cruise. The follow-up to Top Gun is now Cruise’s biggest movie ever, and has raked in close to $550m at the box office.

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.