Val Kilmer names the best directors he ever worked with: “They all share a similar quality”
Earning a reputation for being difficult didn’t prevent a slew of high-profile auteurs from enlisting Val Kilmer, even if his penchant for causing trouble on set did more damage to his career than initially thought.
After bursting onto the scene in the mid-1980s, Kilmer was well on his way to becoming one of the biggest stars of his generation. At his peak, he was one of the best-paid names in Hollywood. He had plenty of charisma and charm to go along with his dramatic chops, and he was regularly being sought for the biggest roles available.
However, there’s only so long a person can be tarred with a particular brush before it starts to stick, and it would be fair to say the 21st century hardly saw Kilmer continue to live up to his early billings. There were occasional gems, like Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant, but there was also an awful lot of straight-to-video nonsense.
During those aforementioned apex years, Kilmer was racking up directorial heavyweights without a care in the world, and many of them became career-defining experiences he fondly remembered. Michael Mann’s Heat is undoubtedly one of the best entries in his filmography, so it was apt that he’d be referred to as “a great guy, and I really love working with him.”
They were supposed to reunite on Collateral, only for Kilmer to vacate the role in favour of reteaming with The Doors director Oliver Stone in Alexander, which didn’t go according to plan. He’s another one who makes the cut, along with Willow and The Missing‘s Ron Howard, and Top Gun and Deja Vu‘s Tony Scott.
In conversation with Total Film, Kilmer clarified that there was no director he’d call his absolute favourite, but it was telling enough that he only chose to list four names. “Oliver, Michael, Ron, Tony Scott,” he offered. “These guys are some of the most successful directors ever, and they all share a similar quality of being detail-oriented.”
Kilmer found it especially surprising that Scott “probably loves actors more than any director I’ve worked with,” describing the look on his face when he’s watching his performers realise his vision as “just wonderful.” He was one of the greats of his time, but he was always known as more of a visualist and stylist than a performance-driven filmmaker.
Joel Schumacher was obviously never going to make the cut after he and Kilmer spent years throwing barbs at each other after the pair repeatedly butted heads on Batman Forever while throwing things at Tom Sizemore’s head may have helped keep Red Planet‘s Antony Hoffman out of consideration, with the director so put off by the nightmare he endured at Kilmer’s hands that he never helmed anything again.
