This article was originally published in 2021, and has been republished in light of Val Kilmer’s April 2025 death.
Other actors get more credit for being transformational, but in his own understated way, Val Kilmer has put together one of the most versatile filmographies in Hollywood. He’s out-cowboyed John Wayne, brought gleeful camp to sci-fi and fantasy, and effortlessly shifted between seductive and silly. In every performance his velvety voice is recognizable yet ever-so-slightly different, as if he’s lending his windpipe to a different man.
Now, that voice has been all but silenced; muted by a throat cancer that has threatened his career and life. But Kilmer has found new ways to express himself. In the 2021 documentary Val, his son Jack narrates his words, speaking about the illness with a frankness that he rarely mustered with his own mouth. “It’s difficult to talk and be understood,” he says through Jack. “But I want to tell my story more than ever.”
So do we. There’s never been a better time to celebrate Kilmer’s greatness, and in that spirit we’ve assembled this list of his 11 most iconic performances. These aren’t the “best” in a traditional sense, and in fact, some have been nominated for Razzies for Worst Actor. Instead, this is a collection of the most quintessentially Kilmer-esque roles, where his commitment doesn’t waver, his surprises never cease, and he’s never anything less than unforgettable.
— Wren Graves
11. The Saint (1997)
Two years after Heat and Batman Forever, Kilmer headlined 1997’s The Saint. Playing master of disguise Simon Templar, the actor slipped in and out of accents and characters, adopting the names of various Catholic saints as aliases while working as a high-tech thief in the Moscow political underworld. Between stealing a microchip from a Russian oil company and delivering a revolutionary cold-fusion formula to the film’s billionaire oligarch baddie, Kilmer’s performance earned him his second nomination for Worst Actor at the Golden Raspberries on the way to a powerhouse box office performance. Over two decades later, it remains messy good fun. — Glenn Rowley
10. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
The Prince Of Egypt was produced by Dreamworks in the middle of the Disney Renaissance and easily could have failed, both financially and artistically. Yet, the film is enduring, gorgeously animated, and featuring an incredible voice cast, with Kilmer front and center as our Old Testament hero Moses. Kilmer certainly knows how to lead a cast, and his empathetic, dimensional vocal performance brings out the best in his co-stars and his animators. What’s more, Kilmer actually doubles as the voice of God in the film, so the performance is definitely of biblical proportions. — P. Ragusa
08. Batman Forever (1995)
Taking up the mantle of Batman in place of Michael Keaton was no easy task, but Kilmer stepped into the Caped Crusader’s cowl with ease for 1995’s Batman Forever. Between Tommy Lee Jones performance as Two-Face and Jim Carrey’s unhinged take on the Riddler, the actor’s stoic Bruce Wayne kept the threequel from crossing over into the kind of ham-fisted nipples-on-the-Batsuit territory that would plague (or exalt, depending on whom your asking) the next installment in the series. And all to the tune of Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose,” to boot! — G. Rowley
08. Willow (1988)
Val Kilmer is not serious in Willow. In only his fourth feature film role, Kilmer solidified his magnetic energy as the warrior Madmartigan in the George Lucas-produced sci-fi flick. The film follows Kilmer and co. embarking on a legendary quest, and throughout, he plays the hero, the villain, the warrior, the romantic lead, the comedic relief, and, well, the stud. It’s also Kilmer at his silliest, especially when paired with the Brownies (played by Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton) and when under the influence of the “love potion.” The performance is a great example of his early potential. — Paolo Ragusa
