Val Kilmer's Success With Top Gun: Maverick
- Top Gun: Maverick has remained the hit of the summer, and in the process has beat Avengers: Infinity War as the sixth highest-grossing movie in North America collecting $679 million domestically and more than 700 million internationally, not including Russia or China.
- In the film, Val Kilmer reprises his role as Iceman, originally a rival for Tom Cruise's Maverick and now a friend. Throat cancer has robbed Kilmer of much of his ability to speak and artificial intelligence technology was used to create his dialogue for the film.
- Throat cancer is a type of head and neck cancer where cancerous cells begin in the throat, voice box or tonsils. Some of the main risk factors for this disease include smoking, drinking alcohol, a diet lacking in fruits or vegetables, acid reflux disease and the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Paramount/Skydance's Top Gun: Maverick has made more than $700 million internationally, excluding Russia or China, and beat Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War on the ranking list by $1 million.
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In the film, Kilmer again takes on his role as Iceman, a pilot who was initially an antagonist to Tom Cruise's titular Maverick in the original. Despite any onscreen tension, the two stars appear to have a friendly relationship aside from their fictional personas.
According to Kilmer's memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry, at first he was unwilling to join another Top Gun movie after producers didn't contact him. But once he expressed interest, he returned to the cast.
"Forget the fact that thirty years had passed since I'd seen the ghost of Iceman's dad. I remembered it like it was yesterday," he wrote. "The producers went for it. Cruise went for it. Cruise couldn't have been cooler. And the next thing I knew I was back, as the Beatles said, where I 'once belonged.'
"Tom and I took up where we left off. The reunion felt great."
Val Kilmer's Cancer Journey
Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 but didn't speak publicly about the disease until 2017. He wasn't considering conventional treatment at first, thinking his Christian Science faith would heal the tumors, but he eventually agreed to undergo chemotherapy for the sake of his children Mercedes, 30, and Jack, 26, whom he had with his ex-wife, English actress Joanne Whalley, 60.
Kilmer also underwent a tracheotomy a surgical procedure that connects the windpipe to a hole in the front of the neck which greatly impacted his speaking voice. However, Kilmer continued acting as filmmakers were able to help give Iceman a voice again thanks to artificial intelligence technology that used samples of him speaking to recreate his signature speech patterns.
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And though he originally kept his cancer battle out of the public eye, Kilmer eventually shared more about his journey through interviews, his autobiography, I'm Your Huckleberry, and his documentary, Val, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
"I have been healed of cancer for over four years now, and there has never been any recurrence," he wrote in I'm Your Huckleberry. "I am so grateful."
What To Know About Throat Cancer
Throat cancer is a type of head and neck cancer where cancerous cells begin in the throat, voice box or tonsils. Some of the main risk factors for this disease include smoking, drinking alcohol, a diet lacking in fruits or vegetables, acid reflux disease and the human papillomavirus (HPV). So, one way to decrease the chances of developing the disease is to get the HPV vaccine.
The HPV vaccine is recommended for boys and girls between ages 9 and 12, but teens and young adults through age 26 who are not already vaccinated should get the HPV vaccine as soon as possible. Dr. Jessica Geiger, a medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center, explains the link between throat cancer and HPV in a previous interview with SurvivorNet.
"There are no screening guidelines to screen for throat cancer, unlike cervical cancer with pap smears. And there are no standard tests to determine if you harbor the (HPV) virus," she said. "However, there is no concern that you're going to spread this cancer to your partner or to anyone else, because at this point your partner has already been exposed to the virus and likely cleared it."
There's no annual screening for throat cancer, so doctors usually discover the disease when a patient sees them with symptoms that may point to it. Some symptoms include:
- A cough
- Changes in your voice
- Difficulty swallowing
- Ear pain
- A lump or sore that doesn't heal
- A sore throat
- Weight loss
It's important to note, however, that these symptoms are not exclusive to throat cancer. Still, you should always see a doctor if you have any changes to your health.
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Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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