Val Kilmer was just 17-years-old when he broke an impressive acting record. For over 40 years, the silver screen icon has dazzled the world with his iconic and sometimes controversial roles in a number of classic films. Kilmer’s big break came in 1986 when he played the cocky Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in Top Gun, which was his first taste of box office success. He later took on more challenging roles such as the heroic Madmartigan in the cult fantasy hit Willow, and the dodgy private investigator Jack Andrews in the neo-noir Kill Me Again. Early in his career, Val Kilmer’s movie choices were already much more selective and deliberate compared to most other stars in the ‘80s and early ‘90s.
In the highly controversial musical drama The Doors, Kilmer famously took a method acting approach to playing rock star Jim Morrison, after which he had to undergo therapy to get out of character. As the quick-handed gunslinger Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Kilmer reached out to older demographics and proved that he also belongs in classic westerns. After solidifying his mainstream fanbase in films like Heat, True Romance, and Batman Forever, Kilmer later took on even more challenging roles in Pollock, Wonderland, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. And although his commercial success has waned, Kilmer never stopped chasing after the best roles he could land. In fact, Val Kilmer will be reprising his role as Iceman in the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick.
Kilmer’s dedication to his roles can be traced back to his formative years. In 1977, when he was just 17, Kilmer broke an impressive acting record by becoming the youngest student to be accepted into the drama division at the highly prestigious Juilliard School. Mental Floss recalls how this record was only broken again in 2003, when actor Seth Numrich entered Juilliard at 16 years old. Moreover, Kilmer was in Juilliard when he co-wrote and starred in the 1981 play How It All Began. He also turned down a role in the 1983 film The Outsiders by Francis Ford Coppola in favor of appearing in a play. Apart from informing Kilmer’s approach to acting, his Juilliard training, which included vocal exercises, also helped when he first encountered difficulty speaking due to throat cancer.
Juilliard’s influence on Kilmer is apparent throughout his career. When he was cast in Top Gun, Val Kilmer crafted an entire backstory for Iceman because the script lacked one for the character. While this history is absent from the film, figuring out Iceman’s inner drive and motivation allowed Kilmer to more thoroughly flesh out the character’s manners, quirks, and overall personality. He took a similar approach to playing Jim Morrison, Doc Holliday, and many of the other intense personalities he brought to life onscreen.
When Kilmer broke an acting record by getting into Juilliard’s drama division at just 17-years-old, he set out on the path to becoming one of the most prolific actors of all time. In 2021, Kilmer once again made headlines as the subject of the Amazon documentary Val. And not only will Kilmer be in upcoming Top Gun 2, there’s even clamor for him to reprise his beloved role as Madmartigan in Disney+’s new Willow series. Despite being mostly absent from the limelight during the last couple years, it seems that Val Kilmer’s career is on the way back up.