This month marked one year since beloved actor Val Kilmer passed away at the too-young age of 65. Kilmer’s final onscreen performance was reprising his role as Iceman in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, an appearance that was made possible by AI generating a voice for him after throat cancer took his own. (Snark alert: the filmmakers spent money on AI to ensure Kilmer’s return, but bringing back Kelly McGillis was beyond the pale.) I think most people viewed the AI use favorably, a case of the technology being used as a tool to support the rest of Kilmer’s performance. But as we learned earlier this year, TG:M was not the only Val Kilmer-AI collaboration. In the indie film As Deep as the Grave, Kilmer’s entire presence onscreen is generated by AI. That’s… a harder pill to swallow, which I think is why the filmmakers and actor’s own family have been trying to get ahead of it by confirming Kilmer **wanted** to be AI-ed into the film. His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, just appeared on the Today Show this week where she further elaborated on her dad’s love of the project and why he wanted to be a part of it in any way he could:
Setting a precedent: “My dad was very passionate that this is the time, before these laws are written, to make sure that there’s a structure for compensation, to make sure that actors get paid on par with what they would get paid if they were physically doing it, and if it creates more jobs in that way, that’s wonderful,” Kilmer told Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie. “I think this is a really historic precedent, and I’m really proud of him,” she added. “It started off as something to overcome the limitations of his illness, but then it evolved into something that he really was like, ‘Oh wait I have a chance to actually set precedent.’”
He really wanted the part: “This is a character Val wanted to play. He was really clear about that before he passed,” John Voorhees, one of the film’s producers, told “Entertainment Tonight” on April 16. … Mercedes Kilmer said on TODAY her father was initially offered “As Deep as the Grave” in 2018, but the project was stalled when the COVID pandemic began in 2020. He knew he wouldn’t be able to act in the film due to his health issues but wanted to be involved.
Two kinds of reactions: “It’s kind of fallen into two camps — people that maybe have a more precarious position in the industry are worried and see AI as a threat, which is absolutely valid. Younger actors and musicians — I’m a musician and a lot of people I know, we’re so scared of this technology. And then at the same time, I’ve gotten a lot of really good responses from people maybe more established in the industry that see it as a way to protect the actors’ ownership of their IP,” she added. “We have to contend with this technology one way or another and avoiding it is not necessarily the way. It’s much easier to structure the rights if you proactively license.”
This answer is telling: Kilmer was asked if her family will use her father’s AI-generated image, voice and likeness for any future movies. “No, because I wouldn’t just put his likeness in something without his permission, necessarily,” she said. … Mercedes Kilmer was asked how this could affect the estates of late movie legends like Marilyn Monroe or James Dean as far as authorizing AI-generated versions of those icons for future works. “I don’t know if I can speak to that because my dad knew about this project,” she said. “This project gave us an opportunity to make sure if someone in the future uses his likeness unauthorized, we can say, ‘Oh no, look, this is what you’re supposed to do.’”
Today: “Will you do more AI-Kilmer?” Mercedes: “No, never!” LOL. I’ll say something nice: watching the video of this interview, there were several really touching moments where Mercedes’ face just lights up when talking about her dad. As for the AI of it all, here’s my takeaway: I think Val Kilmer genuinely wanted to play this role, and he got the offer at a time when he thought he could still do it. But then the pandemic and his own illness did their worst. In other interviews, the filmmakers said they cut Val’s role, finished filming, then realized in post that the story didn’t work without that character. But by then they didn’t have the budget for reshoots with a new actor so they approached Val about AI. After that point, I feel like A) all the other arguments kind of boil down to everyone trying to convince themselves that AI was a good decision, and B) given that Val was about to make an untimely departure from this plane, I don’t begrudge him one bit for saying yes. And if that language is a little woo woo for you, let me leave you with this: Val’s character is described as a “Native American spiritualist,” meaning AI is playing a spiritualist. Let that one sink in.
Photos credit: Look Press Agency/Look Press/Avalon, Olivier Huitel/Avalon
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