ACTOR · BORN 1959 · DIED 2025
Val Kilmer
- Born
- 31 December 1959
- Died
- 1 April 2025
- Known for
- The Dark Knight (2008), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Heat (1995), Alexander (2004)
71 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Val Kilmer (31 December 1959 – 1 April 2025) was an actor best known for The Dark Knight, Full Metal Jacket and Heat.
71 Interesting Facts About Val Kilmer
Interesting Facts (7)
- #001
While the movie The Missing (2003) was being shot about one hour from his New Mexico ranch, he called up his old friend Ron Howard [writer/director] and asked for a part. Ron gladly accepted and gave him a part that only took three days to film. Kilmer's scene is close to 13 minutes long, not counting the DVD's deleted scene.
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Production Story (19)
- #008
Joel Schumacher originally offered him the lead role in A Time to Kill (1996) during the production of Batman Forever (1995), but their working relationship became so strained during production of Batman Forever that Schumacher vowed never to work with Kilmer again, publicly stating that Kilmer had "mental health problems" that made him difficult to work with.
- #009
He turned down Woody Harrelson's role in Indecent Proposal (1993).
- #010
- #011
While the movie The Missing (2003) was being shot about one hour from his New Mexico ranch, he called up his old friend Ron Howard [writer/director] and asked for a part. Ron gladly accepted and gave him a part that only took three days to film. Kilmer's scene is close to 13 minutes long, not counting the DVD's deleted scene.
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- #022
Turned down the role of Ponyboy in The Outsiders (1983) because he was working with a theater company at the time, and if he had pulled out, the show would have been cancelled and his fellow actors out of a job. He ended up working with director Francis Ford Coppola 28 years later in Twixt (2011).
- #023
He was considered for Jeff Bridges's role in Blown Away (1994).
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Turned down Patrick Swayze's role in Dirty Dancing (1987) because he didn't want to be perceived as a "hunk".
Behind the Scenes (11)
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- #029
Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando infuriated director John Frankenheimer on the set of The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996). Frankenheimer later vowed to never work with Kilmer again. However, all the actors who worked in that film have said that Frankenheimer was a nightmare to work with, a dictator and a bully.
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- #033
While being let out of the metal cage during the filming of the crossroads scene in Willow (1988), the rope holding the cage up broke and the cage landed on Kilmer's foot, nearly breaking it. Later on in the film, Kilmer (who played swordsman Madmartigan) can be spotted having difficulty walking.
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- #036
Joel Schumacher originally offered him the lead role in A Time to Kill (1996) during the production of Batman Forever (1995), but their working relationship became so strained during production of Batman Forever that Schumacher vowed never to work with Kilmer again, publicly stating that Kilmer had "mental health problems" that made him difficult to work with.
- #037
Characters & Cast (6)
- #038
Warwick Davis, Kilmer's co-star in Willow (1988), says in his audio commentary that the question he is most frequently asked is: "What was is it like to work with Val Kilmer?" Davis says he has very fond memories of working with Kilmer, stating that Kilmer had a great sense of humor and was very dedicated to the job.
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Easter Eggs & References (4)
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- #046
Voiced Bravo in Planes (2013), a talking F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet. Kilmer and Anthony Edwards were cast to voice Bravo and Echo based on their roles in Top Gun (1986). In addition, Bravo and Echo's flight helmets are the same design/colors as Goose and Iceman's, the characters Kilmer and Edwards played in 'Top Gun'.
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Career & Awards (6)
Life & Family (18)
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- #062
While on break from the set of his latest film, he joined former ambassador Joseph Wilson, Jonathan Richards, former CIA covert operations officer Valerie Plame Wilson, Mary-Charlotte Domandi, Jane Fonda and Ali MacGraw in reading pieces from the new Eve Ensler book about ending violence against women and girls worldwide. Ticket-sale proceeds from this exclusive event went to various non-profit projects around the world.
- #063
A Christian Scientist, he has starred in commercials for the Church. He credited his faith for curing his throat cancer although he did undergo surgery, chemo, and radiation, reportedly at the behest of his children who are not Christian Scientists. He later denied having had cancer and blamed the conventional treatments for causing his "suffering".
- #064
Met future wife, British actress Joanne Whalley, when they filmed the 1988 fantasy film Willow (1988). They had two children: daughter Mercedes Kilmer (born in 1991) and son Jack Kilmer (born in 1995), and co-starred in 4 films together: Willow, Kill Me Again (1989), Played (2006), and Twixt (2011), in the latter they played a couple when they were already divorced in real life. Whalley is also thanked in the credits to Kilmer's documentary, Val (2021).
- #065
- #066
Told Interview magazine during a 1991 conversation to promote The Doors (1991) that as a child, his family had employed a veteran of the Vietnam War, ongoing at the time, as a full-time babysitter. When the man found work elsewhere, the Kilmer family lost touch with him. Through Interview magazine they made an appeal for the Vietnam vet to reconnect with them.
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Related pages
- Swordfish — Val Kilmer comes up in the facts on that page
- The Last Temptation of Christ — Val Kilmer comes up in the facts on that page
- Exodus: Gods and Kings — Val Kilmer comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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