Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret!, then the cult classic Real Genius, as well as the blockbuster action film Top Gunand the swords and sorcery fantasy film Willow...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth31 December 1959
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
Warren Beatty once told me that if someone's really stuck on you, find them their next boyfriend. But I could never do that.
I'm going to put a museum on my ranch and people keep saying, 'That's a huge idea.' Yeah, it's big, but not bigger than the average big movie. A hundred million dollars in the art world is a substantial amount of cash to do anything. That's maybe a big gallery's total sales for a given year.
I never cultivated a personality. Almost everyone who is really famous has cultivated a personality.
The audience and I have an intimacy that is, I believe, rare, most times out.
I saw the horizon. It's out there. And though I may not ever be able to touch it, it's worth reaching for.
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.
The trick to being a good actor is getting so involved in your character that the camera disappears, the 50 bored guys eating doughnuts disappear, friends disappear. To get to that point when you don't have to think about it, you're just acting and reacting in those circumstances.
Performing in a live theater is absolutely unbeatable. It is something I have done my entire life and have a gift, it seems, for sharing thoughts live.
I respect people who can do both careers, like Will Smith and a couple of other people who have done it, but I just don't know when they sleep.
I don't believe in death. I think it's just a state of mind.
I don't think of my life as a cliche, but I'm a cliche eccentric. Complete with a strange name - I mean, who's named Val? How many Vals do you know? I mean, really?
Do what you like to do so well that someone will pay you wages for it.
Give me the compliments. I love compliments. I was born modest, but it wore off.
That's the joy of art - it should be dangerous and challenging but it's just art - it's safe.