Tom Cruise has paid an emotional tribute to his Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer after his shock death aged 65 this week.

Cruise, 62, played Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell alongside Kilmer’s Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky in the 1986 classic, with the pair reuniting onscreen for 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick.

Taking to the stage at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for CinemaCon 2025, Cruise said per Variety: ‘I’d like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. 

‘I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honored I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick. 

‘I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.

‘I wish you well on the next journey.’

Tom Cruise has paid an emotional tribute to his Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer after his shock death aged 65 this week. Seen on Thursday in Las Vegas

Cruise, 62, played Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell alongside Kilmer’s Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky in the 1986 classic

The pair reunited onscreen for 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick

Cruise put his head down as he held his hands together while on stage at CinemaCon 2025 held at The Colosseum. 

The action star was the event to talk up his next film, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which will open on May 23.

Tom had said in 2022 that he was very pleased the Kilmer joined him on Top Gun: Maverick.

‘I just want to say that was pretty emotional. I’ve known Val for decades,’ Cruise said while on Jimmy Kimmel Live. ‘For him to come back and play that character… he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again. You’re looking at Iceman.’

The movie’s producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, told People in 2021 that Cruise ‘was the driving force’ in getting Kilmer to work on the film.

Val, who rose to fame in the 1980s with roles in films such as Batman Forever and The Doors, died from complications related to pneumonia after a long battle with health issues.

Val, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, spent the later years of his life largely out of the public eye. 

Val is survived by his daughter Mercedes and son Jack, whom he had during his marriage to actress Joanne Whalley.

His pᴀssing was announced by Mercedes on Tuesday.

This comes a day after another big star paid tribute to Kilmer. Michelle Pfeiffer shared a sweet note to social media on Wednesday. 

Pfeiffer, 66, posted a black-and-white pH๏τograph of herself and Val from the set of the 1985 ABC Afterschool Special One Too Many.

Val, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, spent the later years of his life largely out of the public eye. Seen in 2019

Taking to the stage at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for CinemaCon, Cruise said per Variety: ‘I’d like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. ‘I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honored I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick’

‘I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us,’ added the ex of Katie Holmes

Cruise put his head down as he held his hands together while on stage at CinemaCon 2025 held at The Colosseum

Cruise added, ‘Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him. ‘I wish you well on the next journey’; Val in Top Gun

Read More Val Kilmer’s tragic last work commitment revealed before shock death at 65

Alongside the image, she wrote: ‘Rest in peace, Val.’

The two actors first met while filming the special, which tackled the dangers of teenage drinking, and formed a close friendship that lasted decades.

Val spoke openly about his bond with Pfeiffer in his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry. He described the connection they shared, saying: ‘The secret pain that Michelle and I shared created an intimacy between us.’

He revealed he had felt comfortable confiding in her about his strained relationship with his parents, while Michelle, in turn, spoke to him about the difficulties in her marriage to Peter Horton, whom she later divorced.

Though Val wrote fondly about Michelle, he admitted to having harbored a longstanding attraction to her younger sister, Lori Pfeiffer, now 59.

He said in his memoir: ‘I had an all-consuming crush on her younger sister Lori, who did not seem to reciprocate, even a little,’ he wrote. ‘In fact, she seemed to not even know I existed.’

Michelle Pfeiffer shared a sweet note to social media on Wednesday. Pfeiffer, 66, posted a pH๏τograph of herself and Val from the set of the 1985 ABC Afterschool Special One Too Many. Alongside the image, she wrote: ‘Rest in peace, Val’

While speculation has persisted over whether Michelle and Val ever dated, the details remain unclear. However, Val reflected on their time together in a 2018 Instagram post, sharing the same image Michelle later used in her tribute.

He said online: ‘I first met Michelle through her husband Peter and Mare Winningham, who was my first girlfriend in high school.

‘It was so amazing to work with all three such talented people in one ‘after school special’ which was, to my memory, always a morality play designed to educate kids just home from school.’

Michelle has not publicly commented on Val beyond her Instagram post.

Val Kilmer’s heartbreaking final words before he lost his voice revealed 

Val Kilmer’s heartbreaking final words have been revealed from his final interview prior to him losing his voice. 

The Hollywood star, who pᴀssed away from pneumonia aged 65 on Tuesday, was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and underwent surgery, including a tracheotomy which created an artificial hole in his neck to help him breath. 

However this significantly impacted his ability to speak and permanently damaged his vocal cords and forever altered his speaking voice.

His last interview prior to the life-changing surgery was with Norwegian television at Val’s Malibu home, thought to be recorded in 2014. 

During the reflective interview, Val made the heartbreaking admission that he wished he had ‘loved more’ and been a ‘better person’ when he was younger. 

Confessing that he was a nightmare to work with he said: ‘I was a dumb actor. I complained quite a bit when I was younger.

Val Kilmer’s heartbreaking final words before he lost his voice revealed in interview with Norwegian television in 2014 – after throat cancer left him using voice box

‘I didn’t appreciate the business that afforded me the lifestyle that I very quickly enjoyed. Very quickly. I starred in my first movie. I was the lead in the first play I did professionally. 

‘And now that I don’t have that privilege, I wish that I loved more. I want to be a better person. I try to figure that out every day, how to be more grateful.’ 

Val was once one of Hollywood’s most prominent leading men in the 1990s after his iconic roles in Top Gun, Batman and The Doors.

However numerous spats with directors and co-stars and a series of flops dented his career and over the years, he gained a reputation as temperamental, intense, perfectionist and sometimes egotistical.

Asked by the reporter in his final interview in what way he was so full of himself, Val jokingly replied: ‘In every way.’

He continued: ‘I had ideas, I had insecurities about myself that I projected on to the movie business. Just the sounds from my mouth. So absurd. Absurdly unrealistic. Apparently, I had an evil twin.’

‘Do you think that people found it difficult to work with you,’ the journalist asked.

‘Yeah, what’s the one past difficult…impossible,’ he admitted, again laughing at himself.

During the reflective interview, Val made the heartbreaking admission that he wished he had ‘loved more’ and been a ‘better person’ when he was younger

Confessing that he was a nightmare to work with he said: ‘I was a dumb actor. I complained quite a bit when I was younger.

Speaking about how his career dried up the star explained: ‘Yeah, I’m kind of blacklisted. I haven’t gotten a studio job in 15 years.’

Asked whether he wanted to get into the industry, Val confirmed: ‘Yeah, I’d always watched movies and wondered what I’d be like in that part.’

WHAT IS A TRACHEOTOMY?

According to the NHS, a tracheostomy is a surgical opening in the wall of the trachea (windpipe) to facilitate ventilation. The term for the surgical procedure to create this opening is tracheotomy.

The opening is usually maintained by use of a tracheostomy tube.

A tracheostomy may be created for a number of reasons – including to deliver oxygen to the lungs when a person is unable to breathe normally after an injury or accident.

Or it can be created because their muscles are very weak.

It can also allow a person to breathe if their throat is blocked – this can be caused by a swelling, a tumour, or something stuck in their throat and to reduce the risk of food or fluid going into the lungs.

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‘If you get back, will you behave in another way?’ the interviewer asked, as he admitted: ‘Yes. In the way that gets me hired.’

Val’s voice was left forever changed after he was forced to undergo an emergency tracheotomy following his throat cancer diagnosis.

After coughing up blood in 2014 he was rushed to hospital and had two emergency tracheotomies – where a hole is created in the neck and windpipe for a tube to be inserted to breathe – as well as chemotherapy and radiation.

The cancer caused his tongue to swell and block his lymph passages and after the surgeries, he had to put a finger to the aperture in his throat to speak and be understood.

The star revealed he had been free of cancer for four years in 2020, but the tracheotomies permanently affected his ability to speak.

He lost his natural voice and had to use an electronic voice box to communicate, opening up about his struggles in his 2021 Prime documentary, Val.

A voice box device is most commonly a battery-operated machine that produces sound to create a voice, and is used to help those suffering with throat cancer communicate.

After stepping back from the public eye, he emotionally admitted it was ‘difficult to talk and be understood’ amid his lengthy recovery from throat cancer, which also saw him fed meals through a tube.

‘I’ve tried to see the world, as one piece of life,’ Val said using his voice box during his documentary.

Read More How Val Kilmer’s voice changed after throat cancer left him using voice box

Though communication became more difficult for him, the Batman star insisted it was just like any other challenge he had to tackle in life.

‘I’m doing great. I feel a lot better than I sound,’ he told Good Morning America in a 2020 interview.

Incredibly, Val’s voice was recreated using AI technology, which was used when he emotionally returned to screens for the Top Gun sequel in 2022.

London-based firm AI company Sonantic recreated his voice in a lifelike yet artificial mock-up, which Val was able to use to help him communicate in everyday life.

Praising the results, the star shared: ‘I’m grateful to the entire team at Sonantic who masterfully restored my voice in a way I’ve never imagined possible.

‘As human beings, the ability to communicate is the core of our existence and the effects from throat cancer have made it difficult for others to understand me.

The chance to tell my story, in a voice that feels authentic and familiar, is an incredibly special gift.’