‘Unexpected kindness I have never forgotten’
I worked as a dialogue coach on Oliver Stone’s Alexander in 2003. Val was playing Alexander’s father, Philip II of Macedon. Oliver wanted the Macedonians to have Celtic accents in contrast to the Greeks, who looked down on the Macedonians, as the English have only too frequently done to neighbours of the UK. We were prepping in Morocco and I had been working for a while with Val on his Irish accent when my 95-year-old mother died and I had to leave for a couple of days for her funeral. During my absence, Val had to go home for a short while. When I returned I opened my hotel room door to find it awash with beautiful white roses. Val had sent them before he left, leaving a note of condolence and both his personal phone numbers so that I might call any time if I needed someone. Such unexpected kindness I have never forgotten. Catherine Charlton, voice coach, St Leonards-on-Sea
‘His characterisation would not allow us to look away’
His turn as Jim Morrison, under Oliver Stone’s directing, is career-defining. Though the movie has been panned as excessive, Kilmer’s portrayed the mercurial, ambivalent and addictive nature of a since-deified artist. Few actors can do this. We abhorred the self destruction we were seeing, yet Val’s characterisation would not allow us to look away. Bravo, Val Kilmer. Tom Leigh, Missouri, US
‘Much more than a heart-throb’
A seriously underrated actor, with great range and depth. My favourite role of his is in Spartan, a fabulous David Mamet film. His sometimes laconic method of acting in this movie worked wonders, leaving the audience to ponder and guess what the character knows, feels and what his purpose is. A somewhat fitting epithet to his whole acting career, I think. As in Top Secret, Kill Me Again, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and many others, he delivered great performances, and was so, so much more than a heart-throb. Gaspar Garção, Portalegre, Portugal
‘He was brilliant as Jim Morrison’
I once met Val Kilmer at Art Basel Miami, while visiting as an MFA graduate. I had gone back to school after a career as a potter so that I could teach at college level, so I was older than many of my classmates in their mid 20s. I casually went up to say hello to him and they wondered how I could be so brazen. He was accompanied by an entourage of his friends who I did not recognise. I told him how much I enjoyed his acting, and relayed the synchronicity of just recently seeing him in Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans as Detective Stevie Pruit. He asked me how I liked it and without thinking I said I wished he had had a bigger role, which was true. But I think he was proud of the role and looked disappointed. I then quickly said how brilliant I thought he was as Jim Morrison, which probably didn’t make it any better. Stephen Hawks, visual artist, Brownsville, Texas, US
‘An intellectual stuck in a Batman suit’
I was lucky enough to meet Val Kilmer in 2005 through a dear friend when he was starring in The Postman Always Rings Twice in the West End in London. He took me and a friend out for dinner the next evening, with his two children. I remember his children reading the London gossip columns about him out loud – very loudly and hilariously at the table – and he joked and played upset. Later, he and I would have breakfasts at The Wolseley in London (his favourite place for breakfast), and we discussed everything from his role in The Doors, to time and space, to just everything. Val was an intellectual stuck in a Batman suit – he really didn’t like playing the role. He was very open and strong, sometimes, in his opinions on the world, about Hollywood, about art. He was outspoken, which to me was great, even if it caused him problems sometimes. Jane Spencer, film-maker, Zurich
‘Thunderheart is often overlooked’
Val Kilmer was an underrated actor, who would probably admit that he sabotaged his career by acquiring a bad reputation on set. I remember him mainly for his role in Thunderheart, a very rare and powerful Hollywood treatment of Native Americans, based on a true story. It is often overlooked when reviewing his career. It’s a tricky role as a self-confident FBI agent uncomfortable with his tribal roots. He is cynically manipulated by his FBI superiors as he navigates an emotional tightrope between his arrogant FBI detachment and growing empathy for the plight of the tribes’ peoples and their traditions. In some ways, the role became a mirror of Kilmer’s own career and personal progression: from a brash, and some might think arrogant and self-assured young actor, who soon gained a bad reputation, to a man who found humility, self-discovery and closure in his tragic final years, leaving behind his own celluloid monument in the home-movie self-portrait Val. Malcolm, Berlin
‘A great portrayal of Doc Holliday’
While there have been many great portrayals of Doc Holliday, Val Kilmer’s portrayal in Tombstone has been the hands-down favourite in this household since the movie premiered. It is spooky, watching him slowly die over the course of the movie, while remaining the most dangerous character on the screen. Christopher Dinnes, Austin, Texas, US
‘Val Kilmer in Hamlet was a special treat’
We saw Val Kilmer perform the title role in Hamlet at the Colorado Shakespeare festival in Boulder during the summer of 1988. The theatre was outdoors on a perfect Colorado summer night under a sky filled with stars. We had friends from Ireland visiting, so my husband prepped an epic picnic to eat on the lawn beforehand. We love to see Shakespeare performed in Boulder, but it was most unusual that a cast included an actor of Val Kilmer’s calibre. It was a special treat for us. Here he was doing a regional production like an everyday Joe. I could hardly breathe. The next morning, our youngest (maybe five years old), who was a huge Kilmer fan, was very eager to hear about his hero. All bright-eyed, he asked about our experience: “So how did you like Omelette?” No family gathering since has ever been complete without bringing up this family lore and talking about the time we saw Val Kilmer play Hamlet in Boulder. Katy, Denver, Colorado, US