Top Gun cast: Who is Val Kilmer? Iceman on his iconic role 34 years on
Who is Val Kilmer?
Val Kilmer was born on December 31, 1959, in Los Angeles, California, where he grew up with his younger brother, Wesley who sadly drowned aged 15.
Kilmer went to Juilliard, a performing arts college, and began working in various TV and theatre project before his big break came in a spoof spy movie Top Secret!
He took a break from acting after which he appeared in 1985 comedy Real Genius, before being offered the role of Iceman in Top Gun.
This was the movie which catapulted him to the top of his game in the acting world, though he has confessed he was unenthusiastic about that time.
He said in his memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry: “I didn’t want the part. I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me.
“My agent, who also represented Tom Cruise, basically tortured me into at least meeting Tony Scott, saying he was one of the hottest directors in town and I could never afford to not meet with as many of them as possible, and also he was completely obsessed with me…
“I showed up at the audition because that’s what actors do when they’re asked to audition.
“I showed up looking the fool, or the goon. I wore oversize gonky Australian shorts in nausea green. I read the lines indifferently.
“And yet, amazingly, I was told I had the part. I felt more deflated than inflated. I had to get out of there.”
He revealed Tony Scott, the director, wanted Kilmer in the role and tried to make him feel better about the movie, promising a better script and the feeling of being the star.
He added: “Tony Scott’s British enthusiasm was the pick-me-up my ego craved. He was ferocious and hilarious…
“Ultimately, he overwhelmed my disdain for the project with pure unadulterated positivity.”
However, for Kilmer, working with Tom Cruise was a learning curve, as he said they were from “far away galaxies” in their approach.
He said: “Tom refrained from our revelry, with good reason. From day one, he was laser-focused on a singular goal: to become the greatest action hero in the history of film.
“He was up nights learning lines; he spent every waking hour perfecting his stunts. His dedication was admirable. Of course even more admirable is the fact that he achieved his goal…
“Tom is a comrade I respect and admire, though as creatures we hail from galaxies far, far away from one another.”
After Top Gun, Kilmer played Elvis in Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance, before playing Batman in Batman Forever, in 1995.
His portrayal and the movie received mixed reviews, though not quite as bad as George Clooney’s incarnation which followed.
Kilmer’s career continued to grow, seeing him perform opposite huge stars, until the late 2010s when he was diagnosed with throat cancer, for which he had an operation on his trachea which has changed the way he speaks.
Despite this, he will return in the Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, reprising his role as Iceman.
Top Gun: Maverick will be out in December 2020, so long as the movie is not delayed due to the coronavirus crisis.
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