“I was flabbergasted”: Val Kilmer Was Frustrated When His ‘Most Unlikeable’ $377M Tom Cruise Movie Became a Cultural Phenomenon

Val Kilmer has solidified his legacy in Hollywood by creating some of the iconic characters that we just can’t get out of our heads. Having gained prominence in the comedy genre, his real skills were put to display when he ventured into action flicks. It also led him to star in some leading roles gaining the status of being among the highest-paid actors in the 1990s.

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He won fans’ hearts once again with last year’s Top Gun: Maverick featuring Tom Cruise in the leading role. However, many might be unaware of the fact that he was unable to like his character in its first film, Top Gun (1986) which brought the latter into the major highlight in Hollywood. 

Val Kilmer’s Thoughts on Working in Top Gun

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Val Kilmer rose to fame with Tom Cruise’s Top Gun by playing the role of fighter pilot, Iceman. In his book, I’m Your Huckleberry, he opened up about playing the bully role who had quite an obnoxious personality known for his signature bleached hairs. 

Talking about his film in general along with his personality in the film, he opened up about how he rose way above the film director Tony Scott’s vision of creating his character. Referring to his character’s signature hairstyle, he shared,

“I must also take partial credit for the weird crew cut I sported. The style was Tony’s idea, but I went out of my way to make it weirder.”

Looking at the character, one would instinctively know the bad guy we usually end up considering just by our first glance. But what left him shocked was when Iceman ended up getting into everyone’s heads.

Val Kilmer Was Suprised When His Character Became a Phenomenon

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His character ended up making a cultural phenomenon after the film’s release since his unlikeable character ended up becoming a craze among guys at that time. 

“When it turned into a national fad — thousands of guys started emulating the coif — I was flabbergasted. And that’s a word you just don’t get to say that often and mean it.”

It is quite a surprising thing for the actor especially when he had almost zero interest in the film. In his memoir, he mentioned,

 “I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me.” 

Despite his disinterest, the film director was hellbent on having Kilmer in the movie. After much effort, he eventually convinced him to audition for the role which impressed everyone with his minimal effort. The director’s decision turned out to be absolute since the film not only brought his co-stars into the limelight but became quite a major film of his career.

Top Gun is available on Paramount+.

Source: I’m Your Huckleberry