Tom Cruise is paying tribute to his friend and “Top Gun” costar Val Kilmer, who died earlier this week at age 65.
Cruise made a surprise appearance at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday during the Paramount Pictures presentation, and took a moment to honor his friend during his time on stage.
“I can’t tell you how much I admired his work, how much I thought of him as a human being and how grateful and honored I was when he joined ‘Top Gun’ and came back for ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’” Cruise said, according to Collider.
The actor also requested a moment of silence, which the audience inside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace honored.
“Thank you, Val,” said Cruise. “I wish you well on your next journey.”
Cruise and Kilmer starred in the original 1986 classic “Top Gun,” with Cruise famously playing the role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Kilmer playing Tom “Iceman” Kazansky.
Kilmer reprised his role decades later in the successful 2022 sequel “Top Gun: Maverick,” in which Cruise also returned. Glen Powell, Miles Teller and Jennifer Connelly also appeared in the followup film.
Cruise attended CinemaCon this week to unveil new footage from his upcoming film “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” which will hit theaters in May.
On Tuesday, Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times and the Associated Press in a statement that her father had died of pneumonia.
Kilmer enjoyed a beloved and decades-long career in Hollywood as a versatile actor who was best known for playing the late rocker Jim Morrison in “The Doors” and the Caped Crusader in “Batman Forever,” among many other memorable roles.
