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Val Kilmer Gets Candid About His Decision to Walk Away From Batman

posted 4 years ago by TMC-4 (19589)
7 replies | jump to latest

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/val-kilmer-gets-candid-his-decision-walk-away-batman-1293790

A visit to the 'Batman Forever' set by Warren Buffett and family sparked a realization for the actor.

Val Kilmer is shedding more light on his decision years ago to walk away from the Batman franchise after playing the Caped Crusader only once in 1995's Batman Forever.

The actor for years has maintained he did not return to the role for Batman & Robin (which was the initial plan when he took over for Michael Keaton) due to scheduling conflicts with another project he was working on, 1997's espionage thriller The Saint. Of course, there were plenty of stories from the Batman production that painted Kilmer as unbearable to work with. ("He wanted to do Island of Doctor Moreau because Marlon Brando was going to be in it. So he dropped us at the eleventh hour," Batman Forever and Batman & Robin director Joel Schumacher previously told The Hollywood Reporter.)

However, in a New York Times profile published Wednesday, Kilmer alludes to a bigger reason he was unimpressed playing the character, which occurred after a visit to the set from billionaire businessman Warren Buffett and his grandkids. (He also maintains the scheduling component.)

In the lengthy profile, which is peppered with Kilmer quotes (but they are few and far between as the actor has a difficult time talking after a procedure on his trachea due to throat cancer), the onetime superstar says he relished playing characters with depth, such as Doc Holliday in Tombstone. And if he wasn't going to do that, he wanted to have fun playing entertaining characters, noting, "I would’ve loved to have been on Saturday Night Live as a regular." And on the set of Batman Forever, Kilmer had a profound moment of realization that the character of Batman, for him, was neither special nor fun.

The actor explained to the Times' Taffy Brodesser-Akner that one day during production he remained in the Batsuit (which he is on record numerous times saying he hated wearing) because he heard some special guests were stopping by the set: Buffett and his family. However, the kids had no interest in talking to Kilmer, they just wanted to play with props and ride in the Batmobile, the actor noted. That's when Kilmer realized anyone could wear the mask. “That’s why it’s so easy to have five or six Batmans,” he told Brodesser-Akner. “It’s not about Batman. There is no Batman.”

As for those stories that he torpedoed a lot of future projects for himself by being a terror on sets, including Batman Forever, Kilmer said, “Everyone has to work out their own salvation. How to live and by what morality, and I found that the part that I feel bad about is hurting somebody in the process.”

Kilmer's go as Batman was followed by George Clooney in 1997's Batman & Robin, which is considered by most fans (and critics) to be the weakest of all the Batman films. It was such a mess, Batman would not be on the big screen again until 2005's Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale, both of whom returned for two more films. That trilogy was a massive box office and critical success.

Ben Affleck then took up the cape and cowl (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League) before burning out and walking away from plans to star in and direct a stand-alone film. Robert Pattinson will be next up to play the iconic DC superhero in Matt Reeves' The Batman, though production on that new take is currently on pause amid the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/gfhmuj/val_kilmer_gets_candid_about_his_decision_to_walk/

[–] bozo_500 (12584) 4 years ago

''there is no batman''

that sounds awesome. maybe it'll end up in the new movie

[–] melissah1982 (883) 4 years ago

It's a shame because I think Val was my favorite movie batman. I thought he had everything from the looks, the humor, and just enough of the broody-ness. He also felt human. I didn't hate George Clooney but he definitely came off cocky as both Batman AND Bruce Wayne. He was unlikeable as a character but Val Kilmer made me like Bruce Wayne. And even tho he may have been trouble off screen, I thought his chemistry with everyone on screen was great.

[–] TMC-4 (19589) 2 years ago

Among the first three modern cinematic live-action Batman actors, I've heard the comment elsewhere that Val Kilmer provided the best balance between Michael Keaton's intensity/intimidation factor and George Clooney's nonchalance.

[–] melissah1982 (883) 2 years ago

balance is the perfect word. I thought he came off pretty serious when needed to be, so you could feel intimidating with him as Batman but he also wasn't afraid to have some fun. So a lot of his flirting could be a little awkward but I liked it. I believe he would have been the one who 'adopt' Dick Grayson after the circus. He just worked really well.

[–] bozo_500 (12584) 4 years ago

The actor explained to the Times' Taffy Brodesser-Akner that one day during production he remained in the Batsuit (which he is on record numerous times saying he hated wearing) because he heard some special guests were stopping by the set: Buffett and his family. However, the kids had no interest in talking to Kilmer, they just wanted to play with props and ride in the Batmobile, the actor noted. That's when Kilmer realized anyone could wear the mask. “That’s why it’s so easy to have five or six Batmans,” he told Brodesser-Akner. “It’s not about Batman. There is no Batman.”

.
actually re-reading it its kind of obvious the grandkids would have been expecting to see keaton (most likely having seen the previous 2 movies on vhs or even the theatre) . so when joel would have introduced kilmer i doubt theyd ever seen him in anything before so wouldnt know who he was other than joel saying 'hey kids..this is batman!..' *blank looks*... 'er..the new batman'..*run off to play in the batmobile*

itd be like kids visiting the set of The Living Daylights and being pointed in direction of dalton and getting told 'hey kids theres james bond'... 'er no its not'

[–] TMC-4 (19589) 2 years ago

This isn't at all meant to be an excuse, but it makes you wonder why Val Kilmer according to Joel Schumacher, started becoming so problematic on set. One has to imagine that as an actor, your ego is severely bruised if potential fans (especially children) don't want to be bothered with you.

Even though, there is part of me who believes that Val made his own bed in regards to his eventually career downturn (due to again, his supposed inability to get along with others) I kind of feel sorry for him. Batman Forever was the peak of his career but he never really had anything that "good" for him again after that. And in fairness, he did in hindsight, kind of dodged a bullet by not appearing in Batman & Robin, which I believe that Val himself also once acknowledged on Reddit with a simple "Duh!"

[–] TMC-4 (19589) 2 years ago

https://www.nickiswift.com/921096/why-val-kilmer-really-left-this-famous-franchise-after-only-one-movie/

Batman may be billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, but he's had many faces over the years. In fact, only "Doctor Who" and "James Bond" can say they've had as many actors in the role. Val Kilmer stepped into the brooding superhero's suit when Michael Keaton vacated the role after two successful outings. Kilmer admittedly didn't decide to star in "Batman Forever" because he loved the character. He thought the famous franchise could prop up his artistic endeavors.

"With two franchises going — Batman and 'The Saint' — I could start an artists' community, write poetry and plays, and become the wild auteur I saw as my destiny," Kilmer wrote in his memoir "Val Kilmer: I'm Your Huckleberry" (via Den of Geek). In fact, scheduling conflicts due to "The Saint" led Kilmer to turn down appearing in a sequel. But Kilmer also admitted that the film felt like a "trap," butting heads with director Joel Schumacher. Schumacher called him "childish and impossible," per Entertainment Weekly.

The deciding factor was when Warren Buffet's grandchildren visited the set and were more interested in seeing the Batmobile than meeting Kilmer. The star's ego was bruised. He told The New York Times Magazine, "That's why it's so easy to have five or six Batmans. It's not about Batman. There is no Batman." By that time, Kilmer was a celebrity icon thanks in part to "Top Gun." But the celebrity's fickle nature almost sabotaged that role as well.