Scholars’ Spotlight: Val Kilmer – Part Two

Introduction

Last week we focused the Spotlight on legendary actor Val Kilmer. However, his 40-year career on stage and screen couldn’t be summed up in one sitting. This conclusory article will dive into Kilmer’s life and career after his iconic portrayal of Jim Morrison in 1991’s The Doors. This includes a five-year run, where he appears in Heat, True Romance, Batman (as the titular character), and his monumental interpretation of Doc Holliday in Tombstone.

While Kilmer’s trajectory was that of an A-list star, that was never his primary concern. For Kilmer, it was always about the role, and whether he could use his training at Julliard, and his method style approach, to channel the character. To make him “real.” This is why his experience in Batman: Forever was so torturous. It’s also why he took supporting roles in films like Heat and Tombstone.

Kilmer’s rollercoaster life and career has very much been in the public eye. Especially his battle with throat cancer, starting in 2015. The actor, flaws and all, has laid it all out there for the public to judge. This culminated with the stunning A24/Amazon documentary Val, which will be a likely Oscar frontrunner. Cinema Scholars is pleased to present the conclusion of this two-part retrospective on Val Kilmer.

Doc Comes Calling

While we can’t see anyone else playing John Henry “Doc” Holliday in 1993’s Tombstone, Kilmer was not the first choice. Kurt Russell and screenwriter/former director Kevin Jarre had pitched actor Willem Defoe to Walt Disney Studios/Buena Vista Pictures. This was the only studio willing to take on this ambitious and expensive project about the events in Tombstone, Arizona, and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

The studio rejected Defoe because of the controversy he had caused starring in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Kilmer was Russell’s second choice, and it would be arguably Kilmer’s greatest performance. He has stated publicly that it was Jarre’s script that had convinced him to sign on. It’s also what would launch Kilmer’s career into the stratosphere. Director Joel Schumacher had seen Tombstone and was convinced Kilmer had to star in his upcoming Batman Begins.

The role of Doc Holliday would go on to cement Kilmer’s legacy as one of our great character actors. Still, Tombstone was not without its share of controversy. Kevin Jarre, the screenwriter and original director of the film, was fired. Veteran action director George P. Cosmatos (Cobra) came in, taking over the production.

After Cosmatos’ passing in 2005, it came out that Kurt Russell had actually taken over the production, as per request of the studio. Russell and producer James Jacks worked to rewrite Jarre’s original script. Russell did not want it known that he had directed the film until after Cosmatos had passed away. Kilmer has publicly backed up Russell’s statements with regards to Tombstone and what when on behind the scenes.

Stardom

Much like his performance as Jim Morrison, Kilmer’s portrayal as Doc Holliday in Tombstone was widely praised. Critics and audiences loved it. In a cast that included Kurt Russell, Sam Elliot, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Billy Bob Thornton, and many others, Kilmer stood out from the rest. Critic Roger Ebert commented:

“… a strange thing started to happen. People started telling me they really liked Val Kilmer’s performance in Tombstone…I heard this everywhere I went. When you hear this once or twice, it’s interesting. When you hear it a couple of dozen times, it’s a trend. And when you read that Bill Clinton loved the performance, you figured you better catch up with the movie…”

Val Kilmer was now at the apex of his career, both critically and commercially. Much like his contemporary Brad Pitt, Kilmer was an intense and well-trained character actor, trapped in a leading man’s body. After a small role as an imagined Elvis Presley in the Quentin Tarantino/Tony Scott collaboration True Romance, Kilmer and his family decided to go off to Africa for a vacation.

Batman

It was while he was in Africa, allegedly exploring a cave filled with bats, that Kilmer received the call from his Agent. Kilmer recalled this surreal moment in the 2021 documentary Val:

“…I was in Africa, when I got a call from my agent, who had been frantically trying to get a hold of me. He asked me how I’d feel about being the next Batman. I was in shock and disbelief, mostly because I had just been exploring a remote bat cave and that’s why I was so hard to reach. It was a sign…”

Kilmer’s star power when deciding to take on the mantle of the Caped Crusader was undeniable. He’d already played three iconic roles by the time he was in his early 30’s: Iceman, Morrison, and Doc Holliday. However, when it came to the role of Batman, he abandoned his normal methods towards taking a role. He dove in headfirst and accepted the part without ever seeing a script, or being familiar with director Joel Schumacher.

Falling Out

Batman Forever was a box-office success and earned Kilmer a huge payday. It also cemented his star power in Hollywood. However, for all those involved, the experience was not a pleasant one. This stems from a bad relationship between Schumacher and Kilmer, along with Kilmer rapidly losing interest in the role. Schumacher referred to Kilmer as “childish and impossible” and refused to work with the actor again.

Kilmer was replaced with George Clooney for the widely panned and universally despised Batman & Robin. In the ensuing years, Kilmer has given his own accounts as to what actually happened behind the scenes. He initially stated that there were scheduling conflicts with his upcoming film The Saint, which was already in pre-production.

Schumacher had stated that Kilmer wanted to star in The Island of Doctor Moreau because Marlon Brando was co-starring in it. Eventually, in 2020, Kilmer gave yet another explanation on why he chose not to return for Batman & Robin and his lack of interest in the role:

“…I took the part without even reading the script…but whatever boyish excitement I had going in was crushed by the reality of the Batsuit. When you’re in it, you can barely move and people have to help you stand up and sit down. You also can’t hear anything and after awhile, people stop talking to you. It’s very isolating. It was a struggle for me to get a performance past the suit and it was frustrating until I realized that my role in the film was just to show up and stand where I was told to…Every boy wants to be Batman. They actually want to be him…They don’t necessarily want to play him in a movie…”

Heat

The day that Val Kilmer wrapped production on Batman Forever, the actor drove immediately to the set of Michael Mann’s Heat. Kilmer stated that this production “felt like an indie film” compared to the film set he had just left. Heat, released in 1995 had an incredible ensemble cast that included Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Jon Voight, among others. Kilmer was, once again, in a supporting role that would long be remembered.

Kilmer plays the smaller supporting role of Chris Shiherlis in Heat. While the actor did not have a starring role, and was billed below De Niro and Pacino, Kilmer stated that he had nothing but fond memories during the production. Heat would go on to be one of the great crime-drama films of the decade, influencing other directors and writers for the next 25 years. Kilmer stated in 2017:

“…Well imagine being able to say, “Al and Bob” for the rest of your life. Not many people can do that…I have seen Bob, giggling like a school girl in a van in the middle of the night, because we have to be quiet cause they are filming outside…have been hugged by Al Pacino in the middle of downtown LA like he was my older brother…I’ve shot live rounds from high powered assault weapons over Bob’s head while rehearsing lines from our film…I got to kiss Ashley Judd…sometimes lived at Michael Mann’s house. I’m in one of the greatest cops and robbers films in film history…I’m on the poster for goodness sake. What an honor!”

Brando and Moreau

Like so many other young actors of the day, Kilmer had lionized the late Marlon Brando. The thought of actually working with the screen and stage legend on 1996’s The Island Of Dr. Moreau was an exciting prospect. However, the problems that plagued this production have since become legendary.

Richard Stanley, originally slated to direct the film, was replaced a week into production by John Frankenheimer. Brando wanted to explore his mad scientist role, and experiment. Frankenheimer was unwilling to do this, immediately creating tension on the set. Bruce Willis, originally cast in Kilmer’s role, suddenly dropped out because he was in the middle of a divorce from Demi Moore.

Throughout the production of The Island Of Dr. Moreau, Kilmer reportedly showed up late to set, got into arguments, and even burned a cameraman with a cigarette. Kilmer has stated that this was an accident. Brando’s 25-year-old daughter had also died during production and was frequently away from the set. Kilmer was served divorce papers by Joanne Whalley while he was on set, adding to the building tension.

Frankenheimer appeased Brando’s insane ideas, incorporating some of them into the finished film. This included Moreau covering his face with thick white make-up, appearing with an identically dressed midget at his side, and even wearing an ice bucket on his head. The film was a disaster of epic proportions, barely breaking even at the box office.

The 2014 documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island Of Dr. Moreau explores all of this is great and sometimes painful detail. Val Kilmer, a lifelong video diarist, also released some incredible behind-the-scenes footage during the production. This can be found online or by watching his documentary, Val. This was Kilmer’s first real box-office dud since The Doors, released 5 years earlier.

The Saint

Val Kilmer’s career was at a precipice going into production of 1997’s The Saint. He had teetered on the edge of being an A-list star, but for professional and personal reasons, could never cross over into the ranks of Cruise, Hanks, and a select few others. Kilmer’s portrayal as art thief and hi-tech master of disguise Simon Templar would change that.

The Saint was envisioned to be a James Bond-style franchise. One with a big budget, and name recognition. It was based on a series of novels written by Leslie Charteris, starting in the 1920’s. These had been made into films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as into a successful British TV show, starring Roger Moore. Moore, of course, would go on to play 007 in seven successful films, starting in 1973.

Kilmer was set up to helm a successful franchise for the next decade if everything went according to plan. Unfortunately, the plan didn’t go quite how it was supposed to. It’s hard to saw why a sequel to The Saint was never made. The film did in fact wind up turning a decent profit thanks to international sales. However, domestically, it wasn’t well-received, opening its debut weekend in second place.

Kilmer’s performance was panned by the critics, earning him a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor, losing to Kevin Costner’s performance in The Postman. The problem with The Saint was that the film took itself way too seriously. The plot was also almost incomprehensible.

Later Roles

For the next 10 years, Val Kilmer would ride the Hollywood rollercoaster, going back and forth between starring roles, and supporting character parts. He’s appeared in such films as Pollack and Red Planet (2000), Wonderland (2003), Alexander (2004), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), and Deja Vu (2006). By the mid-2000s, Kilmer’s time as an A-list leading man were over. Still, he’s been acting consistently, appearing in over 70 films since his screen debut in 1984.

Mark Twain

Mark Twain has always been one of the driving forces for much of Val Kilmer’s life. The actor has routinely created artwork dedicated to the legendary author and humorist. He also runs a charity called TwainMania that is dedicated to teaching the works of Mark Twain to young students.

In 2007, a trailer for the film Mark Twain & Mary Baker Eddy was uploaded to YouTube. The film was written, directed, and produced by Kilmer. In the trailer, the actor is in full makeup and character as Twain. It would be the first of many times we would see him in this role. In 2011, Kilmer played Twain in an adaptation of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn. The film wasn’t released until 2014.

In 2012, Kilmer wrote and performed a one-man show as Mark Twain, called Citizen Twain, at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. He soon would tour the country with it, to critical acclaim. After receiving a tracheotomy in 2017 for throat cancer, he resumed touring, renaming the show Cinema Twain, a 90-minute film version of his stage show. Kilmer reflected on his love of Twain in a 2017 interview:

“…Twain is an honorary founding father, so I was very much interested in his love of humanity and specifically Americans. He perhaps did as much as President Lincoln did to confront racism in our lives. We owe him a solemn debt. And he did it through love, and compassion, and art…”

Finding His Voice

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