Val Kilmer’s Daughter Describes Watching Him Shoot ‘Top Gun: Maverick’: “It Was Extraordinary”
Val Kilmer reprises his memorable role from Top Gun in the upcoming sequel, and the shoot was a special time for his family.
Kilmer, 62, who played Tom “Iceman” Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the 1986 classic, makes a brief appearance in Top Gun: Maverick, hitting theaters May 27.
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The Batman Forever star’s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, told the New York Post that she got to watch her dad film his part in director Joseph Kosinski’s new movie. “I was on set, I saw it live and it was extraordinary,” Mercedes, 30, recalled. “It means a lot to my dad, as he’s very proud of that film. This is what he loves to do.”
She continued, “It was trippy, and very special, for my dad to be on set with all of his friends who made this movie when they were my age.”
Last year, Mercedes spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about her father, who has largely lost the capacity to speak due to radiation and chemotherapy treatments for throat cancer. “He has never really wanted to look back anyway,” she said at the time about Val, who is now cancer-free.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced both films, previously told THR that Cruise was firm about Kilmer appearing in the sequel. “[Tom] said, ‘I’m not making this movie without Val,'” Bruckheimer said. “When we filmed it, it was a very emotional day, having Val there and seeing him work with Tom after 35 years.”
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