Tom Cruise's tribute to Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise has paid tribute to his Top Gun co-star and “dear friend” Val Kilmer, leading a minute’s silence for the actor and saying how honoured he was to work with him.

Tom and Val teamed up for one of Hollywood’s most memorable rivalries when they starred as Maverick and Iceman in 1986.

Val died this week aged 65 from pneumonia after battling throat cancer in recent years .

Appearing at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Friday morning to promote his new Mission Impossible film, Tom told the audience he was grateful for his friendship with Val.

“I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer for a moment,” Tom said

“I really can’t tell you how much I admired his work, how much I thought of him as a human being, and how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and then came back for Top Gun: Maverick.”

Tom then asked audience members to “take a moment and just think about all the wonderful times that we had” while watching Val in movies.

“I wish you well on your next journey,” Tom said in tribute to Val.

Top Gun was Val’s breakout role where he starred as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, a square jawed and cocky fighter pilot that clashed with Tom’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

Val was born on December 31, 1959 in Los Angeles and had a career spanning more than four decades, starring as Batman in Batman Forever, Jim Morrison in The Doors and roles in Heat and Tombstone.

He also reprised his role as Iceman in the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

Val drew on his real life battle with cancer and infused it into his role in the Top Gun sequel, including in a moving scene where Iceman struggles to talk and instead communicates with Maverick by typing on a screen.

Val and Tom both found the scene moving and emotional, with Tom telling Jimmy Kimmel in 2022 that he was crying as a result of the scene.

Tom was at CinemaCon to show a new trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, out May 23.

-  Written by NZ Herald and republished with permission.