• Val Kilmer has passed away at the age of 65
  • He was known for roles in Top Gun, Batman and more
  • However, one of his most iconic performances is underrated
Val Kilmer has passed away at the age of 65.
Val Kilmer has passed away at the age of 65. Credit: Imago

Hollywood icon Val Kilmer has sadly passed away at the age of 65.

Kilmer had a career that spanned more than 30 years, appearing in a string of big blockbuster hits – from Tony Scott’s high flying Top Gun with Tom Cruise in 1986, to Joel Schumacher’s campy sequel Batman Forever in 1995.

Read more: Ben Affleck calls Batman experience “excruciating”

News of the star’s passing broke on Tuesday 2 April, with his daughter Mercedes telling the BBC that he had died of pneumonia in Los Angeles. 

Previously, Kilmer had battled throat cancer, revealing the news in 2014. The star made a recovery and later chronicled both his career and health issues in the 2021 documentary Val. 

Read more: Who could be the DCU’s new Batman?

Throughout his career, Kilmer worked with a range of different iconic filmmakers. These included Michael Mann in Heat, Ron Howard in Willow and Michael Apted in Thunderheart. 

However, one of Kilmer’s most iconic roles is hiding in plain sight in one of the biggest movies of his career.

Did Val Kilmer play Elvis?

Val Kilmer played Elvis Presley in Tony Scott's True Romance.
Val Kilmer played Elvis Presley in Tony Scott’s True Romance. Credit: Imago

One of Kilmer’s most iconic and beloved roles was as Elvis Presley in Tony Scott’s 1993 crime epic True Romance. 

Based on a script by a young Quentin Tarantino, this This bullet-heavy feature mixes romance and crime as the cinema-obsessed Clarence (Christian Slater) accidentally gets involved with a dangerous crowd while trying to save his new love interest Alabama (Patricia Arquette) from drug dealers. 

In addition to loving movies, Clarence also has an obsession with Presley and has hallucinations of the King throughout the movie – usually during pivotal moments of his journey through a crime underworld. 

Long before Austin Butler made the role his own, Kilmer played Presley for Scott but while we hear his voice, we only get snippets of his face. 

Fans pay tribute to Val Kilmer’s Elvis

When news of Kilmer’s passing spread, fans wasted no time paying tribute to Kilmer’s iconic turn in True Romance.

“That time we didn’t even need to see Val Kilmer’s face for his incredible performance as Elvis in True Romance to be burnt into our memory,” said one fan.

“Val Kilmer was barely in this scene physically, and yet he turned what could’ve been a throwaway and hardly remembered part of True Romance into something iconic. Such a gifted actor. Total legend,” offered another.

Meanwhile, a third said: “Val Kilmer will always be ‘Elvis’ in True Romance to me.”

author avatar
Simon Bland
Simon is a freelance entertainment journalist and SEO writer based in the UK. He writes about movies, TV and pop-culture and his work has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Beast, IndieWire, Yahoo Entertainment, Rolling Stone, Little White Lies and more.
See Full Bio