Val Kilmer’s children speak out after actor’s death at 65 years of age

Val Kilmer’s grieving children have broken their silence after their beloved father died at the age of 65.

Val Kilmer’s children have spoken out after the death of their beloved father, Hollywood star Val Kilmer.

Two days after 65-year-old’s death, his daughter Mercedes and son Jack thanked friends, family and fans for “honouring our extraordinary father’s memory.”

“We are so proud of him and honoured to see his legacy celebrated,” they told People in a statement on Friday.

“At this time, we would like to grieve privately.”

It came after Tom Cruise broke his silence two days after the death of his beloved Top Gun co-star.

Cruise, 62, paid an emotional tribute to Kilmer on stage at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas according to Variety.

Tom Cruise bows his head in memory of Val Kilmer at CinemaCon 2025. Picture: AFP

“I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer,” Cruise said.

“I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.

“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.

“I wish you well on the next journey.”

Cruise then bowed his head and observed a moment’s silence.

He had appeared at CinemaCon in order to promote his upcoming film Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Hollywood is mourning the loss of 65-year-old Kilmer who died from pneumonia.

“While working with Val on Heat I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character,” Director Michael Mann, who worked with Kilmer on the big screen classic, Heat, said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.

Val Kilmer has died at the age of 65. Picture: Getty Images

“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”

“See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you,” Josh Brolin wrote on Instagram. “You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those. I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts. #valkilmer #marktwain”.

The second hashtag a reference to Kilmer’s lifelong passion for Mark Twain, which culminated in the actor portraying the great American writer twice on screen and on stage in Citizen Twain.

On Instagram, Harry Potter star David Thewlis wrote about co-starring with Kilmer in the 1996 bomb The Island of Dr Moreau, which was shot in Australia.

“I spent the most bizarre five months of my entire life with Val Kilmer, out in the Australian rainforest, on the ill-fated Island of Dr Moreau,” Thewlis wrote.

“It was so spectacularly bleak and awful it was almost wonderful. Look it up sometime. As Val wrote in his final mail to me: ‘What an incredible story we lived, you and I. One of the greatest.’ Bittersweet to be back here in Australia and hear the heartbreaking news. He was one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met. Proud to have called him a friend and co-conspirator.”

Also on Instagram, actor Josh Gad wrote, “RIP Val Kilmer. Thank you for defining so many of the movies of my childhood. You truly were an icon.”

Francis Ford Coppola said on Instagram: “Valal Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life. He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know — I will always remember him.”

Matthew Modine tweeted, “RIP Val Kilmer. If it wasn’t for our chance encounter at the Source in 1985, I may never have been cast in FULL METAL JACKET. Thanks, Val.”

On X, the official Top Gun movie account tweeted, “Remembering Val Kilmer, whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations. RIP Iceman.”

RIP Val Kilmer. If it wasn't for our chance encounter at the Source in 1985, I may never have been cast in FULL METAL JACKET. Thanks, Val. 🙏☮️ pic.twitter.com/YTMRjy78vC

— Matthew Modine (@MatthewModine) April 2, 2025

Remembering Val Kilmer, whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations. RIP Iceman. pic.twitter.com/a3jQ8ENma9

— Top Gun (@TopGunMovie) April 2, 2025

Meanwhile, a resurfaced interview with Kilmer’s Top Gun co-star Tom Cruise revealed how the Hollywood superstar “cried” when he was reunited on screen with “Iceman” for 2022’s blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick.

“I just want to say that was pretty emotional. I’ve known Val for decades,” Cruise said while appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2023.

“For him to come back and play that character … he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again. You’re looking at Iceman.”

“I was crying. I got emotional,” Cruise said. “He’s such a brilliant actor, and I love his work.”

After the release of Top Gun: Maverick, Kilmer posted a photo of the pair on Instagram with the caption: “36 years later … I’m still your wingman.”

Cruise has yet to comment on Kilmer’s death.

KILMER CONFINED TO HIS BED AT END OF LIFE: REPORT

Kilmer was confined to his bed in the final years of his life, according to a new report.

The “Batman” star died on Tuesday at the age of 65 from pneumonia, his daughter Mercedes revealed to the New York Times. The actress also shared that while Kilmer had battled throat cancer since he was diagnosed with the disease in 2015, he was cancer free at the time of his death.

However, sources close to Kilmer’s family told TMZ on Wednesday that the cancer treatment left him sapped of energy and bed-bound “for years before his death”.

The actor’s body “simply couldn’t keep fighting at the end,” they shared, adding, “his body eventually shut down”.

KILMER DID IT HIS WAY

The Los Angeles native made his film debut as rock star Nick Rivers in the 1984 movie Top Secret! Which was written and directed by the comedy team that created Airplane.

It wasn’t until two years later that Kilmer was launched into superstardom for his role as Lt. Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky in Top Gun, the highest-grossing movie of 1986.

Val Kilmer as “Iceman” in Top Gun

Val Kilmer confronts Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Picture: Paramount

Kilmer played the rival of Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Ironically, Kilmer had to be talked into doing the movie.

“I didn’t want the part. I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me,” Kilmer wrote in his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry. “My agent, who also represented Tom Cruise, basically tortured me into at least meeting Tony Scott.”

He was praised for his role as Jim Morrison in the 1991 biopic The Doors about the music icon, in which he performed his own singing.

“There were challenges, particularly when he started to lose it, which was a whiskey deterioration in the throat,” he said in a 1991 interview with Bobbie Wygant.

Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in The Doors.

Kilmer also starred in 1990s hits True Romance, Heat and famously replaced Michael Keaton as Gotham’s Caped Crusader in Batman Forever.

Kilmer accepted the role of Bruce Wayne’s alter ego without even reading a script.

“I was buzzed about being Batman but hardly for artistic reasons,” Kilmer later wrote in his memoir. “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.”

Val Kilmer as Batman in Batman Forever.

Kilmer would become unhappy about wearing the heavy suit but could later joke about the 1995 movie saying, “I mean, it’s so bad, it’s almost good.”

He also starred with Marlon Brando on The Island of Dr. Moreau, a science-fiction horror film famous for being plagued by production issues.

Kilmer, who replaced Bruce Willis, reportedly feuded with Brando and director John Frankenheimer on set.

“John Frankenheimer went on to blame me publicly for ruining the movie,” Kilmer wrote in his memoir. “I always thought it an odd thing to try to do, blame me for his failure to make an entertaining film, because my character dies halfway through, and the last half of the film sucks as bad as the first.”

Though he had a reputation as difficult, Mira Sorvino, his co-star in the 1999 romance film “At First Sight,” said he was easy to work with.

“I just hate furthering rumours about people being difficult, because it can do such enormous damage to their careers,” she told AV Club in 2011. “My experience with him was nothing but positive. He was really professional and gentlemanly, and a terrific actor.

For his work in the 2005 crime comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Kilmer won a Satellite Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor.

In 2015, Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer, which would take away his ability to speak due to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. He appeared in 12 projects after his diagnosis.

Kilmer reprised his role as Kazansky in the 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, sharing a scene with his on-screen rival-turned-confidante in his final movie role.

“I’ve known Val for decades, and for him to come back and play that character — he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again. You’re looking at Iceman,” Cruise said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “I was crying. I got emotional. He’s such a brilliant actor, and I love his work.”

In 2021, Kilmer declared he was cancer-free.

He is survived by his daughter, Mercedes and son, Jack.

The article was originally published on The New York Post

Originally published as Val Kilmer’s children speak out after actor’s death at 65 years of age