Tom Cruise reveals he shed a tear while shooting Top Gun: Maverick reunion with Val Kilmer - “That was pretty emotional”

Tom Cruise opened about his emotional Top Gun: Maverick reunion with Val Kilmer on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Friday. As noted by Movie Web tabloid, in 2015, Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer. Due to Kilmer’s tracheostomy, he has only worked in handful of projects since then. With his sickness, his return to the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick wasn’t certain as well. However, Tom Cruise was reportedly adamant about having Kilmer in the film, which resulted in an emotional reunion for the two.

Tom Cruise reveals he shed a tear while shooting Top Gun: Maverick reunion with Val Kilmer – “That was pretty emotional”

“I just want to say, that was pretty emotional,” Cruise said as they saw clip from the hit 2022 film in which Cruise and Kilmer have a brief exchange. “I’ve known Val for decades, and 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.”

Kimmel then asked, “Were you crying when you guys shot that, or was it just me?” to which Cruise answered with a laugh, “I was crying. I got emotional. He’s such a brilliant actor, and I love his work.” Kilmer co-starred with Cruise in the original 1986 hit Top Gun. Maverick producer Jerry Bruckheimer previously revealed that the A-lister had a list of conditions before he agreed to do the film.

One of them included Kilmer, who is now cancer-free, being a part of the film. "One of the prerequisites for making this movie from Tom was 'Val [Kilmer, Iceman in 1986's Top Gun] has to be in it',” he told The Gamer. “We worked out his character along with Tom, how he was going to play this part, what he was going to do.”

He added, “Chris McQuarrie [writer] and Joe Kosinski were very involved with Tom in creating the character in the dialogue. The emotions, it's a terrific part of the film.”

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