Tom Cruise Almost Made A Surprise Cameo In A Top Gun SNL Sketch With Val Kilmer
"Top Gun" star Tom Cruise has a memorable big screen history with Val Kilmer. Not only did the two actors rise to fame in the 1980s, but they played rivals in the blockbuster air combat film that would eventually result in a sequel that gave them a heartfelt reunion. That sequel also served as a fond farewell for Kilmer, who had been suffering from throat cancer but still managed to make a wonderful appearance in "Top Gun: Maverick," where his previously cocky character Tom "Iceman" Kazansky was suffering from the same ailment as Kilmer in real life, eventually dying in the movie years before Kilmer would actually pass away in 2025.
However, Cruise and Kilmer almost had a much different "Top Gun" reunion on the small screen over two decades earlier, thanks to "Saturday Night Live."
In a recent episode of "The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast," which is a must-listen for fans of "SNL," former cast member and writer Seth Meyers gathered "MacGruber" director Jorma Taccone, star Will Forte, and writer John Solomon to pay tribute to Val Kilmer, who played the action comedy's absurd, inappropriately named villain Dieter Von Cunth. They shared hilarious memories of working with Kilmer during that time, as well as even funnier personal anecdotes from time spent with Kilmer even after production was completed.
Aside from all the wonderful stories shared, perhaps the best revelation came during a discussion of Val Kilmer's last hosting stint on "SNL," which happened in December 2000. During that episode, there was a sketch that imagined Val Kilmer as Iceman in his later years, who was now working as a commercial airline pilot for Delta but still acting like he was in the high-speed jets of "Top Gun."
During the podcast, Meyers played a voice note from former "SNL" writer Michael Schur (creator of shows like "Parks & Recreation" and "The Good Place"), and he recalled working on that sketch with future "30 Rock" producer Robert Carlock, along with a memory of a surprise Tom Cruise cameo in the "Top Gun" sketch that came unbelievably close to happening. So what happened?
Tom Cruise was watching SNL backstage and nearly made a cameo
In the "SNL" sketch, Val Kilmer reprised his role as Iceman on a Delta flight, where he kept spouting off lines from the movie like, "Listen to me, you're out of line! Your ego's writing checks your body can't cash and that makes you dangerous!" and claiming that there were "bogeys" inbound. It's not officially online, but TikTok is great at coming through with sketches that aren't available through official channels.
@huggyattack Replying to @dana.xu
As the sketch with cast members Chris Parnell, Will Ferrell, and Ana Gasteyer unfolded, it turns out Tom Cruise was in Studio 8H watching from backstage. Schur recalled being nearby while Cruise was just "standing eight feet away watching this sketch and just enjoying it a great deal."
It was at that point that "SNL" producer Marci Klein came up to Schur, as he recalled, "She came over to me while the sketch was airing and was like, 'Tom Cruise is here, should we get him to like walk on?' I was like, 'Yes of course, we should.' And she was like, 'What should he do?'"
Schur quickly came up with a great way to close the sketch, with Cruise coming into the cockpit and saying, "Hey Iceman, let's get you out of here, bud.'" And Klein walked over to Cruise, who nodded while she was speaking to him, and he seemed prime to make it happen.
Sadly, this was all happening just as the sketch was coming to a close, and they missed their window to get Cruise in the right place at the right time. Schur remembered, "The sketch ended and the applause was cued and Val got whisked away to run to change. We missed it by like eight seconds. We missed a Tom Cruise walk-on into the sketch, which would have just, 30 Rock would have crumbled to the ground."
That truly would have been an amazing surprise, one that might have rivaled the unexpected appearance by Barbara Streisand during a "Coffee Talk" sketch with Mike Myers, Madonna, and Roseanne. While it's a shame we didn't get to see that, we're just happy Cruise and Kilmer ended up reuniting in such a beautiful way for "Top Gun: Maverick."