Drew Barrymore remembers “kind and safe” Val Kilmer

Drew Barrymore has spoken about her experience working with the “kind and safe” Val Kilmer on the set of Batman Forever.

Kilmer passed away on Tuesday (April 1) after a battle with pneumonia at the age of 65, as confirmed by his daughter Mercedes. He had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, but later made a recovery.

On a recent episode of The Drew Barrymore Show with guest Kevin Bacon, the pair reminisced about Kilmer. Bacon had appeared on the Broadway production of The Slab Boys alongside Kilmer, while Barrymore appeared in Batman Forever with Kilmer in 1995.

Barrymore reflected: “I was friends with Joel Schumacher, the director, who I thought of this morning because it was he and Val Kilmer that pulled me into Batman Forever.”

“And Val Kilmer was so nice to me. He was so nurturing and kind and safe, which was a very important thing for me,” she continued. Bacon chimed in that that was “probably not that common in those days.”

She continued: “Yeah, I was like, ‘Nobody wants anything from me, they want things for me,’ which I thought was really interesting.”

Barrymore isn’t the only actor to pay tribute to her late co-star. Last week, Tom Cruise honoured his Top Gun co-star at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, which he attended to promote Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Cruise asked the crowd to join him in a moment of silence for Kilmer, who played Lt. Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky. “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer,” he 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.”

Kilmer was also known for his roles as Jim Morrison in The Doors, Perry Van Shrike in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and more. Prior to his death, Kilmer shot an intimate documentary titled Val, in which he shared his story about his battle with cancer and losing his voice. The documentary was released in 2021.

Among those who paid tribute to the late star following his death were director Michael Mann, who Kilmer worked with on the 1995 heist drama Heat, Josh Brolin and The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola.

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