When Val Kilmer Tried To Sabotage His Top Gun Audition But Hollywood Had Other Plans

“I didn’t want the part,” Val Kilmer admitted in his memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry (via Looper). “I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me.”

That didn’t matter. Hollywood had other plans. Even though Kilmer tried to tank his audition, reading his lines with zero enthusiasm, director Tony Scott still cast him as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. Instead of walking away, Kilmer walked into one of the most iconic roles of his career.

Top Gun was all about Maverick. Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell was the hotshot pilot, and Anthony Edwards’ Goose was his ride-or-die co-pilot. But then came Iceman – Kilmer’s cool, calculated rival at the Navy’s elite fighter school. He saw Maverick’s recklessness as a liability, and the tension between them soared. By the end, though, the ice melted. Maverick saved Iceman’s life, and the two parted ways as allies.

Kilmer might not have cared much about the role at first, but Top Gun became a pop culture phenomenon. That rivalry with Maverick? Legendary. That smug bite of the jaw while saying, “You’re dangerous”? Instantly quotable. Kilmer’s Iceman left a mark, whether he planned to or not.

The irony? He nearly missed out on all of it. “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,” Kilmer recalled (per Looper). His half-hearted audition was supposed to guarantee rejection. Instead, he landed the role. “I read the lines indifferently and yet, amazingly, I was told I had the part. I felt more deflated than inflated.”

But decades later, something changed. Kilmer actually wanted back in. When talk of Top Gun: Maverick began, his return wasn’t a sure thing. The studio wasn’t pushing for Iceman’s comeback. Kilmer, however, pushed back. He pitched ideas to the creative team, including Cruise, on how Iceman could fit into the sequel.

Details on Iceman’s role remained under wraps before the film’s release, but early reactions made one thing clear: Kilmer’s return packed an emotional punch. Even if he had once tried to ditch the role, he embraced it when it mattered most.

From dodging auditions to stealing scenes, Kilmer’s Top Gun journey had some serious turbulence. But just like Iceman himself, he played it cool all the way through.

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