Tom Cruise speaks on death of Val Kilmer: ‘I can’t tell you how much I admire his work’

Tom Cruise has broken his silence on the death of his “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” costar Val Kilmer.

While at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, the movie star asked the crowd to “take a moment” to join him in a moment of silence to honor his “dear friend.” Cruise surprised the crowd of movie theater owners with this appearance to further promote his upcoming film “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.”

“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,” Cruise explained according to Deadline.

“I wish you well on the next journey,” he concluded.

In the 1986 hit, Kilmer played Lt. Tom “Ice Man” Kazansky to Cruise’s fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

The pair reunited for the movie’s 2022 sequel, which Cruise called “emotional.”

“I just want to say that was pretty emotional,” he told Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night talk show in 2023. “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.”

“I was crying, I was crying. I got emotional,” he said. “He’s such a brilliant actor, I love his work.”

Kilmer passed away on Tuesday of pneumonia, his daughter Mercedes revealed. He was 65 years old.