Val Kilmer: The Big Hollywood movie he made with Meg Ryan almost broke him and sent him to therapy.

As fans lament the loss of Val Kilmer, his unforgettable transformation into Jim Morrison is once again in the spotlight.

According to her daughter Mercedes Kilmer, the star, known for Top Gun (1986) and Batman Forever (1995), passed away Tuesday in Los Angeles at the age of 65.

Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, undergoing years of treatment, and was declared cancer-free in 2021, but his health struggle was already forced to retreat from Hollywood.

Before retreating from the industry, Kilmer provided one of the most memorable and authentic performances in Oliver Stone’s The Doors (1991), embodying the legendary rock star with such strength that he reportedly made a psychological sacrifice.

Kilmer is reportedly fully immersed in the role of Jim Morrison, studying his mannerism, dressing up like him, mastering 50-door songs, and even playing his own vocals for the film’s concert scenes.

“I wasn’t seduced [Morrison’s] He is alive, but he was necessary, and needed, to maintain discipline just as he was with these fugitives,” Kilmer once explained.

As fans lament the loss of Val Kilmer, his unforgettable transformation into Jim Morrison is once again in the spotlight. (Sees in 2019)

Before retreating from the industry, Kilmer provided one of the most memorable and authentic performances in Oliver Stone’s The Doors (1991), embodying the legendary rock star with such strength that he reportedly made a psychological sacrifice.

Kilmer is reportedly fully immersed in the role of Jim Morrison, studying his mannerism, dressing up like him, mastering 50 door songs, and even playing his own vocals for the film’s concert scenes.

He said, “He was just as disciplined artist, a drinker, as he was, that is, he was looking for inspiration every second.”

His commitment to the role was so extreme that it blurred the line between acting and reality.

In a 2017 Reddit post, Kilmer shared behind the scenes footage of the rehearsals on the legendary Whiskey A Go Go.

“I was working so hard to defeat my own mannerism and get the same edge the lizard king had,” he wrote.

The similarity was so eerie that even fans struggled to break up with Kilmer and Morrison.

One commented while watching the film that Kilmer mistakenly mistakenly for a real singer.

Kilmer said, “To this day, I still bother me by seeing people with tattoos I play him, people who don’t know they’re not gym. It’s going to happen more than you think.”

When asked what he would change about his performance, Kilmer gave only small criticism.

“It’s probably a small sneer,” he wrote. “By the time I did this, I had beaten him as much as I was doing.”

But Kilmer jumped deep into Morrison’s spirit and sometimes went too far.

He reportedly requested that the cast and crew be introduced only to Jim Morrison on set, but he later insisted that this was intended solely for his close team.

In a 2017 Reddit post, Kilmer shared behind the scenes footage of the rehearsal in the legendary Whiskey A Go.

When asked what he would change about his performance, Kilmer gave only a small critique.

His commitment to the role was so extreme that it blurred the line between acting and reality

“I wasn’t seduced [Morrison’s] He is alive, but he was necessary, necessary, and necessary to maintain discipline just as he was with these fugitives,” Kilmer once explained.

‘Oliver Stone likes to feel good no matter what the scene is. [Morrison] It’s beginning to degenerate, that’s what it is. For example, I told you not to clean your clothes to get the hardcore feeling of rock and roll without washing your laundry,” Kilmer once said. (Josie Bissett, Frank Whaley, Meg Ryan, Kilmer, Deborah Falconer, and Kevin Dillon, 1991).

Director Stone also encouraged an immersive approach to filmmaking. This was explained by Kilmer in an interview with David Letterman.

‘Oliver Stone likes to feel good no matter what the scene is. [Morrison] It’s beginning to degenerate, that’s what it is. For example, I told him not to clean my clothes to get some hardcore rock and roll that wasn’t washed.

However, according to the New York Times, Kilmer reportedly fought stones about how substance abuse was portrayed, even in a film centered around Morrison’s infamous self-destruction.

Kilmer’s intense approach to methods has been said to have led to a controversial audition incident with female scene partners.