Tom Cruise paid tribute to his co-star on top pistol Val Kilmer, who died earlier this week at the age of 65.
Appearing at Cinemacon in Las Vegas, Cruz led a crowd to the Colosseum theater at a time of silence to “honor a dear friend, Val Kilmer.”
“I can't tell you how much I admired his work, how much I thought about him as a man, and how grateful I am when he joined Top Gun,” Cruz told Kilmer, who played his rival Ice Man in Top Gun in 1986.
The sequel to 2022: Maverick marked Kilmer's last movie role. Kilmer, also known for his roles playing Batman and Jim Morrison in the doors, died on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
In Las Vegas Cruise bowed his head at the Cavernous Theater, which was full of cinema owners and others working in the industry.
“Thank you, Val – I wish you well on my next trip,” Cruz said afterwards.
Cruz spoke during the Paramount Pictures presentation at Cinemacon. He also showed the Mission Trailer: Impossible – the final reading that will be released later this year, and honors the film's director Christopher McCuari, who was named Director of the Year of CineMacon.
The trailer showed Cruz, who is known for making his own cascades, in a series of action scenes – to fighter jets, in explosions and wings, harvesting a plane.
While Hollywood paid tribute to Kilmer, Cruz was one of the few stars waiting to comment on the actor's death publicly.
The star is vocal for how much he enjoys working with Kilmer. He told Jimmy Kimmel Live! That he was crying, having it on the set for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I cried, I cried. I became emotional,” Cruz said in the Kilmer work show. “He is such a brilliant actor. I love his job.”
Kilmer's family told us that he had died after he came down with pneumonia. The actor had two tracheotomies until he was treated with throat cancer.
The procedures forced him to use a voice box to speak, and in the 2022 movie he introduced on the screen to communicate with the character of Cruz. Towards the end of their scene together, Kilmer's Iceman gets out of his chair and rudely tells Cruz: “The Navy needs Maverik.”
The two hug, and then Ikeman has fun asking Cruz about who is the better pilot.