Val Kilmer Biography
Val Kilmer is an American actor often described as a chameleon for his mastery of complex psychological roles. While some directors spoke of his difficult personality and refused to work with him, others considered him a genius. He shone as Jim Morrison in the film about The Doors iconic band, became the superhero Batman, and portrayed King Philip in the historical drama "Alexander". After overcoming cancer, Kilmer returned to acting following a lengthy break, appearing in the dramatic action film "Top Gun: Maverick" (2022).
Childhood, Adolescence, Family
Val Edward Kilmer was born on the last day of 1959 to Gladys and Eugene Kilmer in Chatsworth, a suburb of Los Angeles traditionally inhabited by descendants of Native Americans. The Kilmer family did not belong to this group, but the actor's lineage included Scots, Irish, Germans, and Swedes.He was the middle of three brothers. The eldest was named Mark, and the youngest was Wesley. His mother managed the household and raised the boys, while his father worked as a real estate agent and an aerospace equipment supplier.
Mark, whom the brothers always considered a great comedian, would come up with parodies, while Val, along with Wesley, set up a nearly professional filming area and shot invented stories with an amateur camera. He regarded his younger brother as "wildly creative," happily performed various roles in his sketches, and believed that one day Wesley would become the next Steven Spielberg.
Once Kilmer dreamt he was talking with a friend and her mother about death. He remembered the woman saying that she wasn't afraid to die because she would meet the Creator afterward. Suddenly, a phone call interrupted the dream. On the other end, Mark informed him that Wesley had drowned in jacuzzi at only fifteen years old.
The family was consumed by grief for a long time, but the middle brother suffered the most, even though he said:
At the same time, Val's relationship with his father deteriorated. "I think he more readily appreciated and loved my younger brother's talent," the actor explained.Death is an opportunity to understand life... I only truly came back to earth two or three years after my brother's death. It's like that Nickelback song: 'I'm tired of living without feeling'... I miss him and his things. I have his art. I like to think about what he would have created. I'm still inspired by him.
Returning to New York, Val pursued his studies with even greater passion. He hung Wesley's drawings on his room wall, hoping it would help him cope with the loss somewhat.
I've always acted, and my brother was always great at coming up with different stories. He was braver than me; he could always entertain. And I was quite shy. But I always liked to tell stories and act them out, like children do. It's probably natural. Many times, people are given a wonderful chance to make their lives brighter and enjoy them, but they don't use it, preferring gloom and darkness. I also tend to have this 'Russian melancholy' that occasionally takes over me, but stories help me feel good.
Acting Career
After graduating from Juilliard in 1981, Val joined a New York theater company, where he was offered a role in the play Slab Boys. He was supposed to play the lead character, but was initially bumped by Kevin Bacon, and then Sean Penn was brought in for the play, relegating Kilmer to secondary roles. Nevertheless, on the Broadway stage, the actor managed to play Richard III, Macbeth, and Hamlet.
Kilmer was vacationing in Africa after a shoot when his agent contacted him and asked if he wanted to be the next Batman in Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever."...I like playing unusual people in extreme circumstances. These are the most challenging roles because it's very easy to become like your character. But people are so fascinated by it. I've been fortunate to play a variety of people and also to bring in a significant income from commercial films for the studio. I've made a billion dollars for my employers. Now I feel like I can participate in small projects just to enjoy working with people.
Throughout the nineties and two-thousands, Kilmer played many interesting and vivid characters. It is said that he personally corrected eighty pages of the screenplay for "The Saint," where he played the rogue and thief Simon Templar.Just imagine being able to say «Al and Bob» for the rest of your life when you meet Al Pacino and De Niro. Not many people can do that. I saw Bob giggling like a schoolgirl in the van in the middle of the night because they were shooting a scene outside... Al Pacino hugged me in the center of Los Angeles as if he were my older brother. I fired live rounds from powerful assault weapons over Bob's head while rehearsing lines from our movie. I had to kiss Ashley Judd. Sometimes I lived in Michael Mann's house. An invaluable experience. Watching all the actors do their job... loved every minute of it.
Perhaps America is too young a country to have centuries-old myths like Europe, so we invent our own. At the same time, we are very nostalgic for the times when America was small and one-story, but we are afraid to regress, so we endow these small towns with special features and animate them. Essentially, the town shown by Francis is like a typical ghost town from a western. It's part of our American mythology, part of our past that we simultaneously yearn for and fear.
Illness
After portraying Mark Twain in the film "Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn" (2014), the actor was inspired to write his own screenplay about the life of the great writer. He never finished the script for the movie, but he did write the play "Citizen Twain" and toured the country with his one-man show, hoping to raise funds for the film's production. For this purpose, he even sold six thousand acres of land in New Mexico, where he dreamed of creating a commune for fellow actors, but the film's production ended before it even began.
Val Kilmer's Personal Life
Currently, there doesn't seem to be a significant other in Val's life, but he has dated various famous women in the past.For instance, in 1984, Kilmer had a brief affair with actress and singer Cher.
After the film's premiere, the couple married, and in 1991 they welcomed their daughter Mercedes. Four years later, they had a son whom they named Jack John Wallace.
Kilmer wrote in his book "I'm Your Huckleberry: A Memoir," released in 2020, that the most painful breakup for him was with actress Daryl Hannah, whom he met on the set of the film "The Real McCoy" in the early 2000s: "God knows I've suffered from all my breakups. But Daryl was the most painful of all," he stated.
Val Kilmer Now
After his illness, the actor appeared in several projects, but due to voice problems, his son provided his voiceover. His most successful film was the sequel "Top Gun: Maverick," where Kilmer reprised his role as Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazanski.
I want to say it was very emotional. I've known Val for decades, and the fact that he came back to play this character — he's a very powerful actor, once again becoming his hero. Watching Iceman, I cried. I was moved. He's a magnificent actor, and I adore his work.
Interesting Facts
- One of Val's most vivid childhood memories was his family's appearance on a Batman TV show. He was in second grade and felt immensely happy when his father put him in the Batmobile. Many years later, the harsh reality took away his love for this superhero: the costume he wore was bulky and tight, and the mask made it difficult to breathe and hear.
- In 2021, the documentary "Val," based on Val Kilmer's amateur footage and archival materials, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. His son, Jack Kilmer, narrated because the actor's voice had not yet recovered after treatment.
- Directors Leo Scott and Ting Poo used footage for the hour-and-a-half film that Val shot with his brothers in childhood, clips with his children and ex-wife, and recordings from film sets: "Val is a very complex and amazing person with so many layers. And we wanted to try to convey this sense of him in the film, from his spirituality to his wonderful sense of humor... We never thought about doing it any other way, like using third-party interviews. We understood this very clearly from the start," Leo Scott explained.
- Some directors and actors who worked with Kilmer claimed he had a bad temper and excessive demands. The artist responded to such statements by saying he was lucky because he didn't live in Hollywood: "Hollywood is like a family, but a very bad one. But I managed to play many wonderful characters. The worst thing that happened in my career is that I played complex, contradictory characters, and people thought that was me, since I play such heroes."
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