Tom Cruise talked about how it was to share with Val Kilmer the films “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick”

Tom Cruise He recently talked about how it was to share screen with the recently deceased Val kilmer In the movie Top Gun 1986 and its 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverickand praised his powerful performance as his “rival.”

“First of all, I felt very grateful to decide to make the movie”Cruise began, declaring Sight and Sound magazine in a new cover article that Kilmer needed to be convinced. “We did everything possible to participate. At first, I just didn’t want to make the movie: ‘I don’t want to be a secondary actor, I want to star in movies.’ I called his agent, and [el director] Tony Scott looked for him and met with Val in an elevator, and he told me: ‘Please, Val, please’ “.

Kilmer finally changed his mind and signed to play the Villain turned into a heroLieutenant Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, who finally became a companion of Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise) after the tragic death of his best friend, Lieutenant Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards).

While Kilmer did not have the main role, Cruise argued that he took full advantage of his scenes, demonstrating that he was a “great actor” and a “charismatic type.”

“What I love what he did and how he interpreted it is that he knew how to give him the tone”Said Cruise in the interview, pointing out the infamous scene of the original movie costumes, in which Iceman brings his teeth to Maverick. “I had to interpret it so that in the end you would like these boys to be friends. Do you understand me? And I remember those scenes as if they were yesterday, acting with him, where he did the bite.”

He continued: “When you act with someone and see that he is on a streak, it’s exciting.

Cruise added that Kilmer contributed that same charism to filming almost four decades later, when the co -star gathered for the sequel to the film. “It was incredible to be in the Top Gun set: Maverick because it was as if time had not happened,” Cruise said about his relationship with Kilmer. “We laughed and it was a joy. And then we started acting and, you see … it became Iceman,”.

“The power that this guy has, even without saying anything, to become that character,” said Cruise. “You see how, even with the smell he released, it was Iceman. And the dynamics among these friends was seen. It was very special, for me personally.”

In a crucial scene of the sequel, Maverick asked Iceman for advice and revealed that his former competitor and Amnemeigo had become a dear friend and had risen from rank until he became Admiral Kazansky, commander of the US Pacific fleet. UU. The conversation between them marks an emotional inflection point, although Iceman only pronounces a line of dialog It costs life (Kilmer himself had difficulty speaking after his fight against throat cancer).

“He didn’t even have to talk,” Cruise recalled. “That’s what he is able to do. Beautiful, really beautiful. A gift he had and shared with all of us.”

Tom Cruise’s tribute after Val Kilmer’s death

Kilmer died at age 65 on April 1. Days later, Cruise paid tribute to his late co -star with an emotional moment of silence at the Cinemacon de Las Vegas.

“I want to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer”Cruise told the public at the beginning of his mission presentation: impossible – the final accounts setting on April 3. “I really can’t express how much I admired his work, how much I considered him a human being and what was grateful and honest that I felt when he joined the first Top Gun and returned to Top Gun: Maverick. He left us a lot to all with his performances.”