Growing up as the kids of celebrities has to be a little weird. You just think of them as mom or dad, and then, eventually, you discover that a lot of people know who your famous parent is. And you also presumably discover that's not the case for every other kid in school. At some point one probably get used to having a celebrity parent. But that doesn't mean that you don't get excited when you meet other celebrities. Such was the case for the children of Val Kilmer when they recently met their dad's Top Gun co-star, Tom Cruise, on the set of the sequel.
Top Gun: Maverick will see the return of Tom Cruise in the sequel to the aviator film that made him a household name. However, while most of the cast of characters surrounding Cruise will be new, he will also be joined by some old friends. It's been confirmed that Val Kilmer will appear in the film in some sort of cameo, and in a recent interview about their dad with Yahoo!, son Jack Kilmer spoke about the experience of being on the set and meeting Tom Cruise. It sounds like an utterly amazing experience. According to Jack Kilmer...
We were this close to Tom’s face. He came up and hugged me and just looked me right in the eyes. It was very surreal! It was really beautiful... I had never seen all of the behind-the-scenes stuff of Top Gun, but my dad filmed all of it, and you can see the guys horsing around on set. And they’re all exactly the same when they’re together now.
At the end of the day, Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise. And if the man comes over and hugs you, I can imagine you'd freak out a little bit. Especially since it sounds like he gave Jack Kilmer a hug like they were old friends when the two had never met. Surreal is the only word for that. Val Kilmer's son may have expected to see Tom Cruise and maybe shake his hand, but he probably wasn't expecting that kind of welcome.
Although, it sounds like Val Kilmer's kids may have simply felt like part of the family. The new documentary film about Val Kilmer's career, Val, shows some behind-the-scenes footage from the original Top Gun and all the fun that the cast had making that movie. And as Jack Kilmer says here, they all fell into old habits quite easily on the set of the sequel.
Exactly how Val Kilmer's Iceman will be part of Top Gun: Maverick is still a mystery. Due to the actor's ongoing battle with throat cancer, the cameo will likely be a simple one and may not even include any spoken lines. But however it works out, fans will certainly be happy to see Iceman and Maverick together again.
