Val Kilmer, who was once 'Batman', and starred in some of the top-grossing films in Hollywood has been out of the limelight while he recovered.
There are many celebrities who wowed us in the 1990s but aren't seen as much on the screen these days. For personal reasons, like family or health, or lack of work, they may have stayed away from taking their career ahead. 90s star Val Kilmer who was once starred as the lead in Batman Forever had fallen into obscurity more or less the past few years. That's because he had major health concerns that he had been battling.
Kilmer, who will reprise the role of Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick, opened up about his recovery and having to learn to speak again. The 60-year-old actor underwent two tracheotomies as part of his throat cancer recovery, according to Mirror. He was diagnosed in 2014 and had to undergo the procedure to help him breathe.
Initially, he was having a hard time swallowing and had woken up in a pool of his own blood a time a few times in his home, as per NYTimes. He underwent the procedures for his family. "I just didn’t want to experience their fear, which was profound," Kilmer said. "I would’ve had to go away, and I just didn’t want to be without them," he said.
Tracheotomy involves making an incision in the neck to open a direct airway, as per Mirror. He said that he "healed quickly" after his cancer battle and now uses the tracheotomy to help him breathe due to the swelling of his throat glands. He is now cancer-free after undergoing two tracheotomies.
"I'm doing great. I feel a lot better than I sound," the much-changed Kilmer told Good Morning America. He explained about learning to speak again. "It's just like any other language or dialect," he explained. "You have to figure out a way to communicate that's no different than any other acting challenge but it's just a very unique set of circumstances," he said, as per Daily Mail. He has to place his finger on his throat to talk.
The actor, who once played Jim Morrison in The Doors has also written a memoir, I'm Your Huckleberry, in which he talked about his past relationships with celebrities like Cher, Ellen Barkin, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Cindy Crawford.
"You have to be committed with a woman that’s as dynamic and as committed to their work as someone like Cindy Crawford who was the number one model on the planet at the time," he said of his past relationship, as per GMA.
He will be in the Top Gun sequel opposite Tom Cruise, and going back to this 1986-released movie was touching for him. "It was absolutely moving," said Kilmer. "I really was surprised and Tom was wearing his jacket from the first movie and it was just very moving."
"All I can tell you about the film is that my hair is not the same length," Kilmer added. The actor who once had a feud with Cruise, on-screen and off-screen too, is going to play his friend on-screen.
The actor was married to British actress Joanne Whalley from 1988 to 1996 and they have two children together. He also opened up about being in a movie with his daughter Mercedes, 28. The father-daughter duo has been cast as father and daughter in Paydirt, which is Mercedes' debut.
"I'm so proud to have been in this film and to have worked on this film like not just because my dad is my actual dad, but because I know you don't really lead with this but you do have now a disability with your voice, and it really meant a lot to me to be able to be involved in this film that centers a disabled actor, or an actor with a disability," she said, as per Mirror.
References:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/val-kilmer-learning-speak-again-22465844
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/magazine/val-kilmer.html
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/actor-val-kilmer-opens-battle-cancer-past-relationships-70256211
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8589231/Val-Kilmer-says-feels-lot-better-sound-discusses-using-tracheotomy-speak.html
