Tom Cruise breaks silence on Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer's shock death at 65

Tom Cruise has paid an emotional tribute to his Top Gun co-star Val Kilmer after his shock death aged 65 this week.

Cruise, 62, played Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell alongside Kilmer's Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky in the 1986 classic, with the pair reuniting onscreen for 2022's Top Gun: Maverick.

Taking to the stage at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas for CinemaCon, Cruise said per Variety: 'I'd like to honor a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. 

'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. 

'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.

'I wish you well on the next journey.'

The actor, who rose to fame in the 1980s with roles in films such as Batman Forever and The Doors, died from complications related to pneumonia after a long battle with health issues.

Val, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, spent the later years of his life largely out of the public eye. 

Val is survived by his daughter Mercedes and son Jack, whom he had during his marriage to actress Joanne Whalley.

His passing was announced by Mercedes on Tuesday.

This comes a day after another big star paid tribute to Kilmer. Michelle Pfeiffer shared a sweet note to social media on Wednesday. 

Pfeiffer, 66, posted a black-and-white photograph of herself and Val from the set of the 1985 ABC Afterschool Special One Too Many.

Alongside the image, she wrote: 'Rest in peace, Val.'

The two actors first met while filming the special, which tackled the dangers of teenage drinking, and formed a close friendship that lasted decades.

Val spoke openly about his bond with Pfeiffer in his 2020 memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry. He described the connection they shared, saying: 'The secret pain that Michelle and I shared created an intimacy between us.'

He revealed he had felt comfortable confiding in her about his strained relationship with his parents, while Michelle, in turn, spoke to him about the difficulties in her marriage to Peter Horton, whom she later divorced.

Though Val wrote fondly about Michelle, he admitted to having harbored a longstanding attraction to her younger sister, Lori Pfeiffer, now 59.

He said in his memoir: 'I had an all-consuming crush on her younger sister Lori, who did not seem to reciprocate, even a little,' he wrote. 'In fact, she seemed to not even know I existed.'

While speculation has persisted over whether Michelle and Val ever dated, the details remain unclear. However, Val reflected on their time together in a 2018 Instagram post, sharing the same image Michelle later used in her tribute.

He said online: 'I first met Michelle through her husband Peter and Mare Winningham, who was my first girlfriend in high school.

'It was so amazing to work with all three such talented people in one 'after school special' which was, to my memory, always a morality play designed to educate kids just home from school.'

Michelle has not publicly commented on Val beyond her Instagram post.