ScreenRant reported only two of the original cast members appeared in “Top Gun: Maverick.” Tom Cruise returned as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, while Val Kilmer reprised his role of Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo. There’d been rumors of a rivalry between the actors during filming of “Top Gun,” and Kilmer confirmed the reports in interviews, talking about what it was like working with Cruise. However, he opened up further in the documentary “Val” (via Good Housekeeping), sharing that their conflict spilt over into real life, too.
Kilmer said the friction was caused by the their mutual obsession with method acting. He explained that, in the script, Iceman was kind of two-dimensional. Therefore, he worked to add depth and backstory to the character. The result was a man “driven by a need to be perfect in every way” with an excessive level of arrogance and swagger. Kilmer admitted his penchant for staying in character led to the on-camera rivalry with Maverick continuing when they weren’t filming. Add Cruise’s adherence to method acting, too, and it’s little surprise they continually butted heads.
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“I would purposefully play up the rivalry between Tom’s character and mine off-screen as well,” Kilmer said. “And what ended up happening is the actors, in true method fashion, split into two distinct camps.” He shared that it turned into Maverick and Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, vs. Iceman, Ron “Slider” Kerner, Rick “Hollywood” Neven, and Leonard “Wolfman” Wolfe.
