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Val Kilmer Reflects on Reprising His Role As Iceman In TOP GUN: MAVERICK

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Val Kilmer Reflects on Reprising His Role As Iceman Alongside Tom Cruise In TOP GUN: MAVERICK

By Movieguide® Staff

Original TOP GUN star Val Kilmer jumped at the opportunity to star alongside his on-screen wingman Tom Cruise in the TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Kilmer reprised his role as Tom “Iceman” Kasansky and said that it felt like “no time had passed at all” between the 1986 original and its sequel.

“Tom called me. I said yes immediately,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

Kilmer added: “We blew a lot of takes laughing so much,” he continued. “It was really fun … special.”

The 62-year-old actor recalled his close relationship with Cruise, who played Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in both movies, began early in their careers.

“We were all so young during the making of the first movie, but even then there was a special bond between us all,” Kilmer said. “Even after shooting we would laugh and dance the night away!”

Like his real-life circumstances, Kilmer portrays Iceman as having throat cancer. Director Joseph Kosinski said Kilmer integrated the retired pilot into the movie in “a really authentic way.”

“Obviously [we] spent a lot of time on that scene, writing it, getting ready,” Kosinski added of Kilmer and Cruise’s scene in the movie. “I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. … It’s a really beautiful scene. We shot it in Los Angeles in a really beautiful house up on a park. Very special to see not only Val and Tom, but Maverick and Iceman back on the screen together.”

A portion of Movieguide®’s review of TOP GUN: MAVERICK reads:

TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a sequel to the popular 1986 hit starring Tom Cruise. Cruise plays Pete “Maverick” Mitchell who after 30 years as a fighter pilot is now a test pilot. After he crashes a supersonic jet, Maverick is sent to the Top Gun school in San Diego to pick six fighter pilots for a dangerous mission to bomb a uranium enrichment plant in a foreign country. He faces two major obstacles. First, the mission looks impossible. Second, one candidate is the son of his late friend, Goose, who died on a training flight with Maverick.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a terrific, powerful, exciting movie. It’s full of high drama and heart-pounding action scenes. This role was made for Tom Cruise. He gets great support from Miles Teller as Goose’s son and Jennifer Connelly as Maverick’s romantic interest. TOP GUN: MAVERICK has a strong moral, Pro-American, patriotic worldview. It also tells a strong redemptive story leading to sacrifice, forgiveness and reconciliation. However, TOP GUN: MAVERICK is marred by too many obscenities and three strong profanities. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong or extreme caution.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.