From *** quirky spy in the 1984 cult classic Top Secret. You guys really are cowboys to the intense fighter pilot in Top Gun, you're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. Val Kilmer's film career took flight in the big 80s, but the slick performer trained at Juilliard honed his acting chops on the stage and saw his craft as *** serious means of exploration. Have you ever turned down something you regretted? No, I don't I don't really think that way. I just look forward and also what you know in in *** personal way what I gained from acting with the opportunity to experience things that certainly you'd never do in your own life. In the 1990s, Kilmer explored the mind of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors. Critics praised him for nailing both the look and the sound of the late singer. I'm huckleberry. Two years later, he played the pasty yet poised gunslinger Doc Holliday in Tombstone, and later *** desperate construction engineer hunting lions in the ghost and the darkness. Along the way, Kilmer co-starred with some of Hollywood's heavyweights like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in the bank robbery movie Heat and played the superhero. That's the car as Batman in 1995, but it was an earlier collaboration on the set of the 1988 movie. Where Kilmer met co-star Joanne Walley. They were married almost 8 years and had 2 children. Later in his career, Kilmer returned to the stage, playing Moses in the 10 Commandments, the musical. He also wrote and performed the one-man show Citizen Twain, taking on the persona of the great American storyteller. But under the makeup, the actor was dealing with grave health concerns. Kilmer downplayed cancer rumors, but then later said he had beaten the disease, which required *** tracheotomy and left him with *** raspy voice. In 2022, he reprised his role as Iceman in the Top Gun sequel Maverick. Who's the better pilot? You and me. This is *** nice moment. It's not ruin it. Like the actor himself, his once boisterous flyboy character, subdued by illness, still commanded respect and even awe on the silver screen.
Josh Brolin, Francis Ford Coppola, other stars pay tribute to Val Kilmer after his death
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Updated: 8:28 AM CDT Apr 2, 2025
Actor Josh Brolin and director Michael Mann are among those paying tribute to Val Kilmer, who died Tuesday at age 65. Here's a look at some of the reactions."See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those. I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts." — Josh Brolin on Instagram."He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know — I will always remember him." — Francis Ford Coppola on Instagram."While working with Val on ‘Heat’ I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news." — Michael Mann, in a statement."A long time ago, I was auditioning for the movie ‘The Doors’ It was kind of a cattle call. They paired together potential Jims with potential Pamela‘s. And they were running behind so we were spilling out of the casting office, sitting on the porch, the lawn, and the driveway. All of a sudden, a Sixties convertible came screeching up, blaring Doors music at top volume. And a guy jumped out and strode inside: He had wild hair and he was barefoot, shirtless, and wearing nothing but a pair of tight leather pants. We all looked at each other like… Who is this guy? We were more than a little shook by the sheer audacity of his entrance. Well, of course, it was Val Kilmer and from that minute on, nobody else stood a chance. Rip King." — Jennifer Tilly on X.Video below: Val Kilmer talked acting, fake coups and arrested bodyguards in 1997 interview"Remembering Val Kilmer, whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations. RIP Iceman." — The "Top Gun" account on X."RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon." — actor Josh Gad on Instagram. "Rest in peace VAL KILMER. A brilliant actor and a good man." — author Don Winslow on X."RIP Val Kilmer. If it wasn’t for our chance encounter at the Source in 1985, I may never have been cast in FULL METAL JACKET. Thanks, Val." — Actor Matthew Modine on X. The Source was a Hollywood restaurant."Listen, Val Kilmer had me wanting to fly fighter jets, be Batman, rob banks, and hunt lions as a kid. They don’t make too many movie stars like him anymore. Generational." — Writer-direct Dylan Park-Pettiford on X."Rest in peace to our former campus mate, the great Val Kilmer (1959-2025), who at 17 was the youngest drama student ever admitted to The Julliard School’s Drama Division." — Film at Lincoln Center on X.
Actor Josh Brolin and director Michael Mann are among those paying tribute to Val Kilmer, who died Tuesday at age 65. Here's a look at some of the reactions.
"See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those. I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts." — .
"He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know — I will always remember him." —
"While working with Val on ‘Heat’ I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news." — Michael Mann, in a statement.
"A long time ago, I was auditioning for the movie ‘The Doors’ It was kind of a cattle call. They paired together potential Jims with potential Pamela‘s. And they were running behind so we were spilling out of the casting office, sitting on the porch, the lawn, and the driveway. All of a sudden, a Sixties convertible came screeching up, blaring Doors music at top volume. And a guy jumped out and strode inside: He had wild hair and he was barefoot, shirtless, and wearing nothing but a pair of tight leather pants. We all looked at each other like… Who is this guy? We were more than a little shook by the sheer audacity of his entrance. Well, of course, it was Val Kilmer and from that minute on, nobody else stood a chance. Rip King." —
Video below: Val Kilmer talked acting, fake coups and arrested bodyguards in 1997 interview
"Remembering Val Kilmer, whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations. RIP Iceman." —
"RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon." — actor .
"Rest in peace VAL KILMER. A brilliant actor and a good man." — author .
"RIP Val Kilmer. If it wasn’t for our chance encounter at the Source in 1985, I may never have been cast in FULL METAL JACKET. Thanks, Val." — Actor . The Source was a Hollywood restaurant.
"Listen, Val Kilmer had me wanting to fly fighter jets, be Batman, rob banks, and hunt lions as a kid. They don’t make too many movie stars like him anymore. Generational." —
"Rest in peace to our former campus mate, the great Val Kilmer (1959-2025), who at 17 was the youngest drama student ever admitted to The Julliard School’s Drama Division." —
