In a documentary about his fascinating life and career in Hollywood, the 61-year-old is dishing on how his experience filming the movie was less than satisfactory.
“Whatever boyhood excitement I had was crushed by the reality of the Batsuit. Yes, every boy wants to be Batman. They actually want to be him…not necessarily play him in a movie,” he revealed.
Val Accepted The Role Without Any Research On It
It’s every little boy’s dream to be a superhero. Val Kilmer got to live that out when he was a small boy and his father took him to the set of the television show ‘Batman’ and he got to see where the magic was created and even sit in the Batmobile himself.
So it was a no-brainer when he was offered to play the role in a film adaptation many years later, to say yes.
“By Hollywood standards Batman is the ultimate leading role and a dream come true. I took the part without even reading the script.”
While he may have thought it was the ultimate acting gig, that later turned out to not be the case. Kilmer did not enjoy the experience and famously turned down a chance to play Batman again in the sequel.
The Batsuit Was Incredibly Tight And Uncomfortable
Kilmer said that his costume was so formfitting, he could barely breathe, move, or have conversations with the other people on the set.
“When you’re in it, you can barely move and people have to help you stand up and sit down,” he shared.
“You also can’t hear anything and after a while people stop talking to you, it’s very isolating. It was a struggle for me to get a performance past the suit, and it was frustrating until I realized that my role in the film was just to show up and stand where I was told to.
He Likens The Limiting Experience To Soap Opera Acting
Because the Batsuit was so hard to move around in, he couldn’t express himself much physically during the role.
“I think it made no difference what I was doing. I tried to be like an actor on a soap opera. When I would turn to Nicole…I couldn’t count how many times I put my hands on my hips.”