- Val Kilmer’s costars in the Top Gun movies are paying tribute to the actor after he died at 65 on April 1.
- Anthony Edwards, who costarred in the 1986 original Top Gun, told PEOPLE he hopes Kilmer is “at peace.”
- Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes Kilmer told The New York Times that the actor died of pneumonia on April 1. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014.
Val Kilmer‘s fellow onscreen Navy pilots are saluting the actor one last time after news of his death at 65.
On Wednesday, April 2, some of Kilmer’s costars in the two Top Gun movies took to social media as they honored Kilmer, who died on April 1 of pneumonia years after he was diagnosed with throat cancer.
“Val Kilmer, in a life time as an artist created work that touched so many in so many mediums,” Anthony Edwards, who costarred in the original Top Gun alongside Kilmer and Tom Cruise, told PEOPLE in a statement April 2. “Hoping he is at peace.”
“RIP to our forever Iceman 🕊️,” Jennifer Connelly, who costarred in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, wrote over a photo of Kilmer from the original 1986 Top Gun she re-shared to her Instagram Stories.
Kilmer portrayed Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the Top Gun movies.
Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise in Top Gun, 1986. Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
The character was initially portrayed as Cruise’s character Peter “Maverick” Mitchell’s chief rival at the U.S. Navy’s Top Gun fighter pilot school. In Maverick, which revisits the characters more than 30 years after the first movie, Iceman is the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet — he assigns Maverick to return to Top Gun to train a new class of graduates for a highly specialized mission.
Danny Ramirez, who appeared in Maverick as one of the pilots Cruise’s character trains, shared a photo of Kilmer to his Instagram Stories on April 2 and wrote that Kilmer “was nothing but kind, joyous and playful” during their time together on set.
Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick. Paramount Pictures
“I felt lucky to be in the same room. A brilliant and generous performer and one of the coolest to ever do it. Rest in peace, Val,” Ramirez, 32, wrote.
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Kilmer and Cruise shared one memorable scene in Maverick, in which Iceman advises Maverick on how to handle a situation regarding Miles Teller’s character Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Maverick’s former copilot Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Edwards).
Val Kilmer in 1986’s Top Gun. CBS via Getty
Cruise admitted that working with Kilmer again on Maverick “was pretty emotional” for him during a February 2023 interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, after the sequel broke records at the box office throughout 2022.
“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,” Cruise said at the time. “I was crying, I was crying. I got emotional,” he admitted. “[Kilmer is] such a brilliant actor, I love his work.”
