The one actor who made Val Kilmer feel validated

Despite the challenges he has faced, Val Kilmer has continued to collaborate with acclaimed filmmakers such as Terrence Malick and Tomas Alfredson, while also appearing in Top Gun: Maverick and the intimate documentary Val, which chronicles his remarkable career. Over the years, he has worked with some of Hollywood’s most iconic figures—a privilege that stands out as one of the greatest rewards of being an actor. Kilmer has shared the screen with legends he once admired as a young film enthusiast, cementing his own status as a cinematic icon.

For example, while he certainly found working with Brando challenging at times, he still walked away with many great things to say about the star. “Brando was everything you want the major icon in your world to be, a genius and a gentleman. I was getting divorced at the time and he was so gracious about offering me time and considered thought. He offered to call my ex on behalf of the children. He was one of the funniest men on earth. I still laugh out loud about some of the things he said and did. I mean he literally wore a salad bowl over his head,” he wrote during a Reddit AMA. 

While Kilmer has worked with many well-known stars, he once revealed how “flattered” he was when he found out he was on a certain actor’s list of people they really wanted to work with. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he revealed that none other than Sean Penn had wanted to work with him before Kilmer had even landed his first film role. Having cut his teeth in theatre, Kilmer was well-trained, and Penn was interested in starring alongside him, which came to fruition in 1983 when they both appeared in a Broadway production of The Slab Boys.

Kilmer explained, “The best to have orchestrated that form of learning is Sean Penn. Sean is very practical. As far as I know, he simply wrote down everyone he wanted to work with and crossed them off the list just as soon as he could: Robert Duvall, Chris Walken, Robin Wright, Sam Shepard, etc.”

The actor claimed he “was always so flattered when he asked me” to appear in The Slab Boys. “Actors live for validation, and that’s the highest compliment.” 

The play also starred Kevin Bacon and Jackie Earle Haley, both of whom would also become successful Hollywood actors. It wouldn’t be long until the cast of The Slab Boys would all graduate to bigger things, but the experience of working together certainly helped them to hone their skills and prepare them for cinematic greatness.

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