When Alabama actor Michael Biehn appeared in 1993’s “Tombstone” alongside Val Kilmer, who died Tuesday at age 65, the two actors portrayed enemies. But watching Kilmer act left Biehn with great respect for Kilmer, who starred in iconic films like “Top Gun,” “The Doors” and “Batman Forever.”

In an interview with CBS42 in Birmingham, Biehn, an Anniston native, said Kilmer was “one of the finest actors of his generation.” In “Tombstone,” Biehn played deadly outlaw Johnny Ringo, a rival of Kilmer’s famed gunslinger and gambler Doc Holliday.

“He was a true professional and was always fascinating to watch,” Biehn told CBS42.

MORE: Hollywood reacts to Val Kilmer, star of Tombstone, Top Gun, dead at 65: ‘You truly were an icon’

Biehn said their roles as real-life enemies Ringo and Holliday meant the actors didn’t spend much time together offscreen, but he admired Kilmer’s commitment.

“When we were doing our first read-through, I said to myself ‘Michael, you better step it up here or he’s going to walk all over you,‘” Biehn recalled. Biehn also appeared in such classics as “The Terminator,” “Aliens” and “The Abyss.”

Read the full CBS 42 article.

Kilmer’s portrayal of Holliday, who was sick with tuberculosis, is one of his most beloved. Rolling Stone magazine said Biehn and Kilmer “gave us the best gunfight of the modern Western era.”

“The face-off between Kilmer’s Doc Holliday and Michael Biehn’s Johnny Ringo in 1993’s ‘Tombstone’ captured the nervy emotion of a deadly duel…,” the magazine wrote in an April 2 article.

Watch a scene between Kilmer’s Holliday and Biehn’s Ringo from “Tombstone” in the video below.

Kilmer died Tuesday of pneumonia, according to the Associated Press.

The actor, known for his intensity, was “the youngest actor ever accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School at the time he attended,” the AP article said.

Kilmer had more than 100 acting credits, according to his IMDb page. Popular films included “Top Secret!,” “Real Genius,” “Top Gun,” “Willow,” “The Doors,” “Batman Forever,” “The Saint” and “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” His final film role came in 2022’s blockbuster hit “Top Gun: Maverick,” in which he reprised the character Tom “Iceman” Kazansky.