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Michael Schur, the Saturday Night Live 2000s sketch co-writer, outlined the events that nearly led to Tom Cruise's unexpected participation in the Top Gun spoof.
During the most recent episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, the presenter played a voice note in which Schur recalled Kilmer's appearance as a guest host on December 9, 2000.
He recalls the actor being "very intense but very nice." He went on to describe the scene: "It was 25 years after the events of Top Gun and Iceman (Kilmer's character's nickname in the film) had retired from the Navy and was now flying very boring commercial flights for Delta."
According to Schur, the Mission: Impossible star was also at the event, "standing eight feet away and watching this sketch and just enjoying it a great deal."
He went on to say that long-time SNL producer Marci Klein approached him as the routine was being done and said, "Tom Cruise is here, should we get him to like walk on?"
Schur agreed to the concept and sought to quickly come up with ways to make Cruise's entry on the set, suggesting that the Jack Reacher star will walk in during the sketch's final seconds to "grab Val Kilmer and just say 'Hey Iceman, let's get you out of here, bud.'"
When Cruise learnt about his appearance, he was prepared to act, stating, "Yeah, okay, I get it."
However, before Cruise could enter the stage, the skit concluded, and Kilmer walked off to change his clothes. Cruise missed his part by eight seconds.
Kilmer died from pneumonia on April 2 at the age of 65. Cruise paid tribute during a promotional event for Mission Impossible - The Finale Reckoning by requesting the crowd to join him in a minute of silence. "Thank you, Valerie. He said, "I wish you the best of luck on your next journey."
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