This critically acclaimed actor is also an avid musician, who has sung in two films where he portrayed rock stars.
He released a CD in the fall of 2007.
At age 17 he was the youngest person at the time to be accepted into Julliard’s drama program.
He published a book of his poems in 1987.
He dated supermodel Cindy Crawford in the 1990s.
He has a reputation of being difficult to work with.
He is considering entering into politics.
Who is he?
Continue reading for the answer.
Val Kilmer got his big break when he received top billing in the 1984 spoof “Top Secret!,” where he played an American rock and roll star. Kilmer sang all the songs in the film and actually released an album under the film character’s name, “Nick Rivers”.
When he was cast as Jim Morrison in the film “The Doors,” he prepared for the role by attending Doors tribute concerts and reading Morrison’s poetry. He spent close to a year before production dressing in Morrison-like clothes, and spent time at Morrison’s old hangouts along the Sunset Strip. His portrayal of Morrison was praised and real members of The Doors noted that Kilmer did such a convincing job that they had trouble distinguishing his voice from Morrison’s.
Kilmer released a CD in the fall of 2007, proceeds of which went to his charity interests.
He published a book of his poems, “My Edens After Burns,” in 1987.
He dated Cindy Crawford in 1996. A noted incident in their dating life involved Crawford’s advertising for a bar where Kilmer did not approve. He admitted being unreasonable.
On rumors of being difficult to work with Kilmer has said:
“Interesting characters are troubled characters. The only problem I’ve had in my business is very few people – unfortunately, very vocal – confusing the difficult role that I play with me. I play these guys, but I’m not like them. I’ve been accused of being difficult to work with. But that’s like saying the football player’s out of breath ’cause when he comes off the field having caught a hundred-yard pass he shouldn’t be out of breath. He’s not out of shape; he just went and did his job.”
and:
“It’s probably fair to say I have taken myself too seriously on some jobs. I’m sure I’m more guilty of being difficult than I’d like to remember. I don’t regret my desires; I’ve regretted the way I would communicate my desires. Maybe I’ve lost a job because of some rumor, I doubt it. But nobody good that I’ve worked with has ever said anything negative about me, because we’ve never had a negative experience. By good, I mean directors who do their homework, people that are passionate, crazy, never sleep, and do like I do and just go after it.”
Kilmer is considering a run for Governor of New Mexico, where he owns a ranch and is a longtime board member of the New Mexico State Film Commission. He is also involved with The Wildlife Center of New Mexico and assists in rescuing animals and releasing them on his ranch.
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photos: WENN