For Goudhaantje Val Kilmer, all roads led to Hollywood

Hollywoodster Val Kilmer was far ahead of his time. Long before everyone started directing and streaming their life on YouTube and Tiktok he was already walking around with a video camera, which became better and lighter over the years.

That resulted in documentary makers Ting Poo and Lee Scott a treasure room of thousands of hours of video in forty years: rise and decline of a Hollywood star. Their documentary FallTo be seen in Cannes in 2021, is a monument for Val Kilmer: the arrogant young talent, the pretentious star, the humble old man who lost his voice by throat cancer and a tracheotomy during his passion project – a theater monologue like Mark Twain. He died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. According to his daughter, pneumonia became fatal to him.

Val Kilmer suffered the reputation from a bloated ego, you still saw traces of it. See his silly, fiddling units with brokaat and silk. See Helmel, the Egomuseum that Kilmer founded in Los Angeles for himself, and that is also a ‘fun, sacred’ place where ‘eclectic artists’ come together ‘to make change bites’. Kilmer always thought that fate has something special with him – hence perhaps the impulse to record everything he experienced on video tape. Such a motivation is extremely useful to make it as a movie star, and he did. But at the same time he looked down on that status. Val Kilmer wanted to be the new Marlon Brando, he confessed. No less. Let the studios dance to his pipes. Being a royal Rebel. But character roles often passed his nose and Oscar nominations as well. Hollywood often only saw the MooBoy.

Breakthrough

Val Kilmer was born in 1959 in a well -to -do household in Los Angeles. His parents divorced when he was eight, his epileptic brother Wesley drowned as a 15-year-old in Father’s Jacuzzi-a deep family trauma. Kilmer was the golden rooster: as a youngest student ever allowed on the elitist drama school of Juilliard in New York, he was classmate of Kevin Spacey there. Kilmer rebelled against the traditional acting training, against the endless, blood -taning voice exercises. Hollywood quickly had him in sight. Francis Ford Coppola, later a friend, wanted him in 1983 in Jeugdbendefilm The OutsidersKilmer Powed the Titan of The Godfather off because of theater obligations. But all the roads led to Hollywood: in that off-broadway he plays together with Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon, whom he recorded on video as they mooned him. « This shot is worth a lot of money, » Bacon shouted.

After his first, comical leading role Top secret Kilmer reluctantly let himself be bent in 1985 Top guna film about navy pilots that he saw as a militaristic wet dream. Kilmer played the cool perfectionist Iceman, the great rival, and later friend, of rebellious improvisator Maverick, played by Tom Cruise. The film was their both breakthrough; In a moving moment in part two – Top Gun: Maverick In 2022 – Iceman has since been promoted to admiral, and he can no longer protect his old friend Maverick dying from throat cancer. Kilmers voice was for that film digitally reconstructed.

As an actor, roles of historical characters Kilmer pulled the most: Doc Holliday, Elvis Presley. Jim Morrison in Oliver Stones Biopic became the highlight in his residue The Doors (1991), a beautiful role in a moderately received film. Hollywood saw more of an action hero in him. He played Batman in Joel Schulmachers Vrolijk Cartooneske Batman Forever (1995). Kilmer experienced the uncomfortable ‘batsuit’ as a rusty harness: according to him, every Anonymus could play Batman, the super villains stole the show. The film did well, but Kilmer left it at one performance.

The nineties proved changeable. As a master in disguise Simon Templar in The Saint (1997) He was not a success, Batman, the colonial action film The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) and Michael Manns crime drama Heat (1995) made him an almost super star. But the expensive fiasco The Island of Doctor Moreau In 1996 confirmed his reputation of Lastpak and Quarrel. It was a disaster set with the thick, uncertain and demanding Brando and Kilmer who was determined to win the Packing match of the old icon. Kilmer Dinne and Terrorissed invasion director John Frankenheimer, a famous Egomasseur- he said he never wanted to work with Kilmer again.

Val Kilmer itself was also ashamed of that misconduct. As a mitigating circumstance, he performed the dividing troubles with his great love, the British actress Joanne Whalley, with whom he got a relationship during the recordings of Fantasyhit Willow (1988) and two children, Mercedes and Jack.

Self -mockery

Kilmer did not have much credit. Then his SF action film Red Planet In 2000, Hollywood flopped the then 41-year-old actor like a brick. Rolls as a leading man in Blockbusters were a thing of the past, in the 21st century he had to make do with smaller genrework and supporting roles. Sometimes very interesting, as in cult hit Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2006) or in Terrence Malicks Song of Songs (2018). And of course there was always the theater and the musical; Kilmer liked to be on stage and had a good singing voice.

In the documentary Fall He mocked his former pretensions. He granted the makers his rejected audit bars: as a corporal joker in Stanley Kubricks Full Metal Jacketas Henry Hill in Scorseses Goodfellas. It is comical to see how much he misses the plank for those iconic roles, and Kilmer knew that: the documentary is his fine. In a deeply moving moment we see him selling signatures for 55 dollars on a fan day, halfway he is sickly running from a chemotherapy to a toilet. Where he tells in tears that his old self would look deeply on the Val Kilmer of today. « Can’t a person sink deeper? »

But now he is grateful and humble, Kilmer continues. That the films for which he picked up his nose – Batman,,  » Top gun,,  » The Saint – Meaning so much for fans. And that is why for him, now that his future is behind him and he is no longer a beautiful boy. The years had made him humble.

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