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We Must Preserve Val Kilmer’s Actual Legacy
Before his unexpected AI resurrection, Val Kilmer was, according to film critic Roger Ebert, “the most unsung leading man of his generation.” Although he might not have received proper critical recognition during the height of his career, Kilmer was more than just the guy who played Batman in 1995’s Batman Forever or the foil to Tom Cruise’s Maverick in 1987’s Top G*n. Kilmer was a trained Juilliard actor. In fact, at the time of his acceptance, he was the youngest performer ever to be enrolled there, having been admitted at 17 years old.
Throughout his career, Kilmer continued to provide charisma and gravitas to big-budget fan favorites like Willow and Heat. However, he would continue to expand himself artistically in ways both known and unknown. He portrayed Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s biopic The Doors and did all the singing himself. In 2012, he wrote and performed in a one-man show about the life of Mark Twain. He even authored a little-known book of poetry in the early 1980s. The documentary Val, which was released in 2021, further explores how Kilmer was an artist who was so much more versatile than the action star image that the average audience member assumed him to be.
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Kilmer’s last on-screen role before passing away in 2025 was a cameo opposite Cruise in the massively successful sequel Top G*n: Maverick. His ongoing health issues were written into the script, which made for a bittersweet, full-circle reunion between the two leading men. Many believed that this would be the last time we would ever see Val Kilmer on screen again, and for a while there, it was… until Coerte Voorhees came along and decided to add a problematic final credit to a legendary filmography.
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Why Audiences Should Reject As Deep as the Grave
Since the press began to cover the controversy, Coerte Voorhees has sought to justify using “AI Val Kilmer” in his upcoming film. “He was the actor I wanted to play the role,” Voorhees told Variety. “It drew on his Native American heritage [...] He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn’t do it.” It is true that Kilmer had been planning on returning to acting to play the role of Father Fintan, “a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist” in this historical epic. In fact, he was originally cast in the role five years prior to his passing.
While it’s certainly upsetting that Kilmer was unable to perform in one more film playing a character of such personal significance to him, that simply does not account for how Voorhees chose to pay tribute to Kilmer. He could have hired another worthy performer to play the role, while adding a dedication to Kilmer in the end credits. He could have granted Kilmer’s family a producer's credit so that they could potentially earn a portion of the box office grosses. Even just finishing the film in and of itself could have been enough to pay tribute to someone who was clearly passionate about bringing this story to the world. All of these options would have been better than resorting to controversial AI technology. In fact, that technology has now completely overshadowed the narrative itself, thereby defeating its purpose.
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So what can audiences do to keep As Deep as the Grave from succeeding? As someone determined to keep cinemas alive and well, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but please, boycott this film! Don’t see this movie in theaters or watch it on digital or streaming platforms. Audiences have the power to reject this film entirely. If As Deep as the Grave is only remembered as a complete and utter disaster, it could prevent the use of AI-generated performances of well-known actors from becoming standard industry practice.
As for Kilmer, we need to separate his legacy from this project. Even if Voorhees earned the approval of his family, we cannot know how Kilmer himself would react if he were fully aware of this discourse. In fact, when this movie is finally released, audiences should instead stay home and watch some of Kilmer’s great performances (personally, I’d start with The Doors). This was an actor whose work reflects the pursuit of human excellence in his field. We can’t let him be remembered for a failed AI experiment.
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‘Boycott this film!’: Val Kilmer’s posthumous generative AI performance cannot be his legacy
Val Kilmer is making an acting comeback from beyond the grave, and his fans aren't happy about it.
That's because Kilmer won't really be acting in it. Instead, the upcoming historical adventure film As Deep as the Grave will feature the likeness of Kilmer in a posthumous performance that has been entirely generated by AI.
Although filmmaker Coerte Voorhees allegedly earned the approval from Kilmer's family estate, the backlash has already begun, and the film isn't even out yet. Even if Kilmer himself would have approved of this so-called "artistic choice," that does not mean that the team behind As Deep as the Grave should get a free pass for using generative AI for a role that could have been performed by a human being. Was this not a major reason why SAG-AFTRA performers went on strike in 2023? Has the industry learned nothing from that strike?
We'll never know if Kilmer would have truly wanted this apparent tribute. We know that he wanted to act in this project before his illness made him unable to do so. But Hollywood could be establishing a dangerous precedent by allowing this project to move forward in this capacity. Today, it's a tribute to Kilmer, but before long, it could be every actor's job that is at risk. It's doubtful that Kilmer would have wanted to become the face of a precedent that might put his fellow actors out of work one day.
If anything, Kilmer's "performance" in As Deep as the Grave could tarnish the legacy of a movie star who was once associated with traditional, good old-fashioned Hollywood moviegoing. There are many ways that the filmmakers behind this project could have forged ahead while paying tribute to Kilmer, but generative AI is not the way to do it.