Top Gun Maverick: behind the scenes of the poignant scene between Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise

“We messed up a bunch of takes because we were laughing so hard,” says the Iceman singer.

36 years after Top Gun by Tony Scott, Top Gun: Maverick marked in the summer of 2022 the reunion on screen of Val Kilmer And Tom Cruise. The time of an intense scene which left its mark on the minds of the spectators, and to which Kilmer agreed to return in an interview given by e-mail to EW shortly after its theatrical release. We are republishing his comments to wait until the first free-to-air broadcast of the blockbuster, at 9:10 p.m. on M6.

Then, the channel will offer the first part by Tony Scott, released in 1986 in cinemas, which was in prime time last week.

In the film, we learn that Val Kilmer's character, Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, has reached the rank of Admiral and leads the US Army's Pacific Fleet. He's behind Pete's return “Maverick” Mitchell in the Top Gun program, where he must prepare a group of young pilots for an extremely dangerous mission. Like the actor in real life, Kazansky suffers from throat cancer which makes it very difficult for him to speak. And he only appears in one sequence, for which Val Kilmer's voice was recreated, speaking mainly in writing with his former rival.

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“It seemed like it was yesterday“, the actor told EW, nostalgic about filming the 1986 film. “We were all so young when we were making the first film, but even then there was a special bond between us. Even after filming we spent the night laughing and dancing.” When Tom Cruise called him to offer him the role, he said “Yes right now“. And the chemistry between the two men was still there: “We messed up a bunch of takes because we were laughing so hard. It was really fun…it was special“.

The presence of Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick was “requested by Tom, Jerry (Bruckheimer) and myself“, recalls director Joseph Kosinski. “We had to find a way to bring Iceman back. We talked about it with Val. He had an idea to integrate Iceman in a really authentic way. Obviously, we spent a lot of time on this stage, writing and preparing. I wasn't sure how it was going to work. Chris MacQuarrie polished the scene and really convinced me it was going to work. And he was right. It's a magnificent scene. It was very special to see not only Val and Tom but Maverick and Iceman back together on screen.”

The trailer for Top Gun: Maverick :

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