Val Kilmer reflects on the “priceless experience” of working on Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’
The American actor Val Kilmer has felt like a pretty permanent fixture of Hollywood cinema ever since the mid-20th century, but the actor didn’t come around until the mid-1980s. Turning down the chance to star in the Francis Ford Coppola film The Outsiders with the likes of Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and Emilio Estevez, Kilmer’s first break wouldn’t come until his unlikely debut in the iconic spoof movie Top Secret in 1984.
The comedy, helmed by the same directors behind the 1980 classic Airplane!, David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker was a pretty considerable success, putting Kilmer straight into the public eye. But even if the actor had any regrets about missing out on The Outsiders, he would have the chance to work with Cruise again two years later, collaborating with the star for the Tony Scott flick Top Gun, which would become one of Kilmer’s most defining roles.
Kilmer’s performance as the fan-favourite ‘Iceman’, helped to elevate Kilmer’s profile even further, earning him a role as Jim Morrison in the Oliver Stone film The Doors in 1991, a spot alongside Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton in 1993’s Tombstone and an iconic turn as the caped crusader in Joel Schumacher’s 1995 film Batman Forever. But it was nine years after the release of Top Gun that Kilmer would take on another iconic role in Michael Mann’s 1995 film Heat.
Speaking about his experience working on the influential crime drama, co-starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Kilmer reflected in a Reddit discussion: “Well imagine being able to say, ‘Al and Bob’ for the rest of your life. Not many people can do that”.
The actor then proceeded to rattle off a list of memorable events that happened on the set of the beloved movie, reliving special moments with his castmates. “I have seen Bob, giggling like a school girl in a van in the middle of the night, because we have to be quiet cause they are filming outside,” he recalled, adding, “I have been hugged by Al Pacino in the middle of downtown LA like he was my older brother”.
Telling the story of a pack of professional thieves who mistakenly leave a clue at their last heist and get caught up in a cat-and-mouse game with the LAPD, Kilmer plays Chris Shiherlis, one of the main criminal ringleaders. A favourite of movie lovers and filmmakers alike, Heat perfectly toed the line between being a sincere crime film and an electrifyingly silly blockbuster melding action, drama and a sprinkling of comedy.
Elaborating about his time working on the movie, Kilmer added: “I have shot live rounds from high-powered assault weapons over Bob’s head while rehearsing lines from our film. I got to kiss Ashley Judd. I sometimes lived at Michael Mann’s house. I am in one of the greatest cops and robbers films in film history, has to be in the top 20. I am on the poster for goodness sake. What an honour! Priceless experience. Watching all the actors do their thing. We all work hard, but when you are with the icons, you get really squared away. Loved every minute of it”.
Take a look at a clip of Kilmer in Heat below.
