Actor Ali Fazal paid a heartfelt tribute to Val Kilmer following the latter’s death on April 1 at the age of 65, recalling how the Hollywood star praised Fazal for his performance in the 2017 film Victoria & Abdul.
“RIP Mr Val Kilmer. I write this note because you were the 1st big ticket compliment I ever got from an actor of your calibre- for my attempt to portray a real person in Victoria and Abdul,” Fazal wrote alongside a photo of Kilmer from the 1991 biopic The Doors on Instagram.
Reflecting on how Kilmer’s performance influenced his perspective on acting, Fazal said, “Hell I dare say, I know I have miles to go. But this from someone whose performance changed the way I saw acting at a time when I was lapping up the Brandos and the Pacinos of the world.”
Kilmer, famed for his roles as Iceman in Top Gun, Jim Morrison in The Doors and Batman in Batman Forever, died of pneumonia on Tuesday night at 65 in Los Angeles. He had previously recovered from throat cancer, which required two tracheostomies.
“You made a better Jim Morrison than Morrison that day for me. 🙈🙈. Live on , because this doesn't end - we are privileged because we are in mediums that linger longer than times assigned,” Fazal signed off.
Kilmer is also known for his roles in movies like MacGruber(2010), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Tombstone (1993), True Romance (1993) and Heat (1995), where he shared the screen with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
Fazal and Richa recently ventured into film production with their debut project, Girls Will Be Girls, released in 2024. The movie won the John Cassavetes Award at the 40th Film Independent Spirit Awards at a ceremony held in Santa Monica, California on February 23.
Ali Fazal will be next seen in Anurag Basu’s Metro…In Dino. Also starring Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sensharma and Fatima Sana Shaikh, the movie is slated to hit theatres on July 4.