Nicolas Cage has described his Bad Lieutenant co-star Val Kilmer as a “genius actor” in a written tribute following news of his death at age 65.
“I always liked Val and am sad to hear of his passing,” Cage said in a statement sent to Deadline. “I thought he was a genius actor. I enjoyed working with him on Bad Lieutenant, and I admired his commitment and sense of humor. He should have won the Oscar for The Doors.”
The Doors — Oliver Stone’s biopic of 60s rocker Jim Morrison — was one of Kilmer’s defining roles. The film has gone on to become a cult classic, but in 1991, the year of its release, it didn’t land a single Oscar nom. That year, the Best Actor Oscar was won by Anthony Hopkins for Jonathan Demme’s classic horror The Silence of the Lambs.
Kilmer’s death was confirmed by his family to the New York Times after battling pneumonia and cancer.
Filmmaker Michael Mann led tributes to Kilmer this morning, sharing a message about his Heat actor on Instagram.
“While working with Val on Heat, I always marveled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character,” Mann said. “After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”
Kilmer’s breakout role came as LT Tom “Iceman” Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise in Top Gun (1986). That was followed by the fantasy film Willow (1988). His big break as a leading man was in Stone’s The Doors.
After his outing as The Lizard King, Kilmer opted for scene-stealing co-starring roles in Tombstone (1993), True Romance (1993), and Heat (1995). The star’s next leading role came in Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever (1995), which Kilmer originally hoped would be a “radical” take on the iconic superhero. That effort ultimately failed after Kilmer realized he would spend much of the film behind a mask and encased in foam padding. Kilmer’s career was given a poignant coda when he reprised Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
