Val Kilmer’s daughter supports bringing him back from the dead with AI for new movie
Val Kilmer will return from the grave in AI form in the forthcoming movie As Deep as the Grave; the decision has received plenty of criticism, but his daughter, Mercedes, has defended his digital resurrection.
In March, it was revealed that the part that was written for the actor, who passed away from pneumonia following his struggle with cancer on April 1st, 2025, at the age of 65, would still, in some way, go to him. He had originally signed on to the movie prior to the 2020 pandemic.
Appearing on NBC’s The Today Show, his daughter has now confirmed that the late actor “approved the use of AI so that he could complete and be part of this film”.
She also added, “If we’re going to have [AI], we can make things that expand the possibilities of what we can do as humans, not to replace them.”
Similarly, in March, the film’s writer and director, Coerte Voorhees, explained, “He really thought it was an important story that he wanted his name on. It was that support that gave me the confidence to say, ‘Okay, let’s do this.’ Despite the fact that some people might call it controversial, this is what Val wanted.”
His daughter also touched on the negative reaction to the project, sharing, “It’s so fascinating to see the responses, and they are really justified.”
Nonetheless, Mercedes called attention to the importance of the behind-the-scenes, which involves “solidifying structures for actors to own their licensing and have rights.”
She went on, “This is the time before these laws are written, to make sure that there’s a structure for compensation, to make sure that the actors get paid on par with what they would get paid if they were physically doing it. And if it creates more jobs, that’s wonderful. I think this is a really historic precedent.”
Explaining how the curious deal came around, Mercedes shared, “It started off as something to overcome the limitations of his illness, but then it evolved into something where he really was like, ‘Oh wait, I have a chance to actually set a precedent, that now other actors will say, well, Val Kilmer, they structured his contract in that way.'”
Mercedes understood that AI can be seen as a “threat” by “people that maybe have a more precarious position in the industry“. She admitted that this response is ” absolutely valid — younger actors and musicians. I’m a musician. A lot of people that I know… We’re so scared of this technology.”
However, she encouraged sceptics to view the AI-resurrection as “a way to protect the actors’ ownership of their IP.” From her perspective, when approaching AI, “it’s much easier to structure [an actor’s] rights if you proactively license something.”
Looking toward the future, Mercedes concluded, “There are just certain things that he talked about, ways to use it, that we may do eventually. There may be video games based on characters that he made… And now we know our family can protect the use of that.”
So far, no official release date for As Deep as the Grave has been shared.
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