Tom Cruise honored his late Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer at CinemaCon Thursday. Appearing at the Las Vegas event to promote Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Cruise asked the audience for a moment of silence to honor Kilmer, who died Tuesday at age 65, E! Online reports. "I'd like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer," said Cruise, 62. "I can't tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honored I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick." The original "catapulted" both Cruise and Kilmer, who played rival aviators turned eventual friends, to stardom, and the sequel ended up being Kilmer's final acting credit, NBC News reports.
"I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him," Cruise said prior to the moment of silence. Afterward, he added, "This man forged through it all and was able to create epic adventures for global audiences. You are an artist for all time. You are our modern-day Thalberg," Cruise said, referring to pioneering producer producer Irving Thalberg. Among the other celebrities publicly mourning Kilmer was Cher, whom he dated in the 1980s, CNN reports. "VALUS," she wrote on social media, referencing an old nickname for him. "Will miss u,U Were Funny,crazy,pain in the a**,GREAT FRIEND,kids??U. BRILLIANT as Mark Twain, BRAVE here during ur sickness." (More Val Kilmer stories.)
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