Elsewhere during the interview, the producer of the long-awaited action film adds that Tom Cruise, who plays Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, told him he 'wasn't going to make the movie' without Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky depicter.
- May 31, 2022
AceShowbiz - "Top Gun: Maverick" producer Jerry Bruckheimer has given more details behind the movie. The filmmaker revealed in a new interview that the cast and crew spent an "emotional" day filming with Val Kilmer when he reprised his role in the long-awaited sequel.
The Hollywood actor returned as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky 36 years after starring opposite Tom Cruise as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in the 1986 original. Opening up about the day they spent filming with the star, telling PEOPLE, "The fact that he was able to do it and he worked with us on the script ... to have him there and be a part of it was a really emotional day when we filmed him."
"Because you want to see those two on the screen again, Iceman and Maverick going at it," Jerry further explained. "And that's what movie making and audiences love."
Jerry added that Tom was determined not to make the movie without a cameo from Val, saying, "Tom said he wasn't going to make the movie without him."
Val previously battled throat cancer and the health scare permanently altered his speaking voice.
The pair played rival pilots in the original movie, and in the sequel Iceman has been promoted to Admiral and plays an instrumental role in bringing Maverick back to the Top Gun academy.
Val's son Jack, 26, added he felt incredibly proud of his dad's contribution, telling the outlet, "(My sister) Mercedes and I went down to San Diego to that big naval base for the shoot with Tom Cruise and everyone."
"And there were hundreds of extras of real pilots coming up to us and telling us that the first Top Gun inspired them to join the Navy and the Air Force," Jack said. "It was one of the proudest moments of being American that you could think of really."
