During his rise to fame in the Eighties, Val Kilmer garnered a reputation among his peers and the media as a brooding young actor who was often petulant on set. His performances, however, were captivating and nuanced, an unmistakable result of his relentless dedication to his craft.
When remembering Kilmer, who died Tuesday at the age of 65, director Oliver Stone reflected on the enigmatic actor’s “contradictory” nature. Stone, who worked with Kilmer on the 1991 rock biopic The Doors and 2004 historical drama Alexander, calls him “brilliant, both as Jim Morrison in The Doors and in Alexander as King Philip of Macedon.”
“His approach and attitude significantly changed between 1990 and Alexander in 2004. The results satisfied me on both occasions,” Stone told Rolling Stone in a statement Friday. “To call Val turbulent, contradictory, and tortured is an understatement. But the result was he was exciting on film, always exciting, and fresh. We need more Vals.”
Kilmer’s performance as Morrison is considered to be his most transformative, with Stone previously saying the actor was “robbed” of an Oscar nomination. In his memoir I’m Your Huckleberry, Kilmer recalled, “The story to me was Jim’s glory and then his demise, the Greek fleet waiting to sail him into his fate, to die with rock & roll in one mighty catastrophe.”
Elaborating on his approach, Kilmer explained, “Maybe, if I tried hard enough, I could break through and reflect his light, free his mind, and through some Bacchanalian surge of prowess, offer healing to myself, to Jim and everyone watching.”
When remembering Kilmer on Friday, Stone concluded, “He was an iconoclast and rebel in his acting, and always kept it exciting in either supporting or main roles,” adding, “The movies will miss him.”
Frank Whaley, who played Doors guitarist Robby Krieger in the film, said in a separate tribute that “working with Val Kilmer and watching him transform himself into Jim Morrison was life-altering for me as an actor.” “The gifted actor, Val Kilmer, who miraculously played Jim in The Doors movie has broke on thru to the other side,” added Doors drummer John Densmore. Kyle MacLachlan, who played Ray Manzarek, also said, “You’ll always be my Jim. See you on the other side my friend.”
Yet in perhaps one of the most vivid memories of Kilmer shared following his passing, actress Jennifer Tilly recalled crossing paths with him during auditions for the 1991 movie. While waiting outside the casting office, Tilly described a Sixties convertible “screeching up, blaring Doors Music at top volume,” and a guy stepping out with “wild hair and he was barefoot, shirtless, and wearing nothing but a pair of tight leather pants.”
“We all looked at each other like… Who is this guy? We were more than a little shook by the sheer audacity of his entrance,” she said. “Well of course it was Val Kilmer and from that minute on, nobody else stood a chance. Rip King.”
