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Tributes paid to screen 'icon' and 'creative firecracker' Val Kilmer

Updated / Wednesday, 2 Apr 2025 19:23
Kilmer has been hailed "an icon" and "smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker"
Kilmer has been hailed "an icon" and "smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker"

Tributes have flooded in for acting great and "icon" Val Kilmer following his passing aged 65.

Kilmer died of pneumonia in Los Angeles, his daughter, actress Mercedes Kilmer, told The New York Times.

The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant shared a humorous clip of Val Kilmer taking part in a sketch in his comedy series Life's Too Short.

The clip shows Kilmer and his Willow co-star Warwick Davis pitch Willow 2 to Merchant and his co-creator Ricky Gervais.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter Merchant wrote: "Despite a combative reputation, Val Kilmer was great fun to work with on Life’s Too Short, always willing to be playful and self-deprecating.

"I got to know him socially too, and he was as engaging as he was eccentric. A true one-off. RIP Val."

In her tribute on X, Cher said she would miss her "great friend".

The pair were romantically linked during the 1980s and the US pop star told Howard Stern's SiriusXM show last year that she had been "madly in love" with Kilmer.

In a statement to the US entertainment trade publication Deadline, Nicolas Cage, Kilmer's co-star in 2009's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, said: "I always liked Val and am sad to hear of his passing. I thought he was a genius actor. I enjoyed working with him on Bad Lieutenant, and I admired his commitment and sense of humour. He should have won the Oscar for The Doors."

US actor Danny Trejo who starred alongside Val Kilmer in the 1995 crime drama Heat, has paid tribute to his "dear friend".

The Con Air star shared two pictures of him and Kilmer on X, showing their friendship over the years.

He wrote: "Val Kilmer was a great actor, a wonderful person, and a dear friend of mine. May you rest in peace."

In a post on Instagram, actor Josh Gad called Kilmer "an icon".

He said: "RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon."

Fellow actor Josh Brolin remembered Kilmer as a "smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker". He added: "There's not a lot left of those. I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there."

Film production company Paramount Pictures also paid tribute to the US actor, who was known for playing Iceman in the Top Gun movies.

A joint Instagram post from the company, Paramount Home Entertainment and the official Top Gun social media channel said: "Remembering Val Kilmer, whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations. RIP Iceman."

Film director Michael Mann, who worked with Val Kilmer on 1995 crime drama Heat, said news of the actor's death was "tremendously sad".

In a post on Instagram, Mann said: "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."

Full Metal Jacket actor Matthew Modine paid tribute to the late Val Kilmer by thanking him for helping to land his role in the Stanley Kubrick film.

Modine shared a video on X showing pictures from his past while a voiceover read a memory of meeting Kilmer at a restaurant named The Source on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Modine recalled sitting at the restaurant with Jumanji actor David Alan Grier discussing the Venice Film Festival Best Actor award they shared, which he said prompted loud cursing from Kilmer who was sitting nearby.

Modine approached Kilmer and joked the Top Gun actor looked "upset" because he was "fed up with me getting parts that he could have been playing".

Writing on X, Modine said: "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."

Francis Ford Coppola, who directed Kilmer on the 2011 horror film Twixt, shared an image of him with the actor on Instagram.

In the caption, The Godfather director wrote: "Val Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life. He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know - I will always remember him."

James Woods, best known for his roles in Videodrome and Once Upon a Time in America, paid tribute to Kilmer on X, highlighting his role in the 1993 western Tombstone.

The actor wrote: "His rendition of Doc Holliday in Tombstone was what every actor dreams of achieving. So many wonderful performances. Sad to lose him so soon. RIP Val Kilmer."

US film critic Richard Roeper said Kilmer deserved Oscar nominations for his roles in Heat and 1993 western Tombstone. "He was a brilliant presence in some of the most enduring films of his generation. Rest well. Thank you for the incredible work," Roeper posted on X.

Ralph Fiennes, who worked with Kilmer on the Disney classic movie The Prince of Egypt, wrote on X: "Val Kilmer rest in peace."

Brian Lynch, the screenwriter behind Minions and Secret Life of Pets, wrote on Bluesky: "The Doors. Top Secret! Tombstone. Top Gun. Real Genius. Willow. Batman Forever. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. True Romance. Macgruber. Heat. There was nobody like Val Kilmer. May he Rest in Peace."

The Doors. Top Secret! Tombstone. Top Gun. Real Genius. Willow. Batman Forever. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. True Romance. Macgruber. Heat. There was nobody like Val Kilmer. May he Rest in Peace.

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— Brian Lynch (@brianmichaellynch.bsky.social) April 2, 2025 at 5:01 AM

Source: Press Association

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