Fans of the later Val Kilmer have been sharing the trippy video he starred in for Oneohtrix Point Never – watch below.
Earlier today, it was confirmed that the Top Gun and Batman Forever star had died from pneumonia at the age of 65. He passed away on Tuesday (April 1), having been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, although he did later make a full recovery.
The Hollywood star is also fondly remembered for his distinctive portrayals of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors and a flamboyant detective Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
One of his most esoteric appearances came toward the end of his career in the video for Oneohtrix Point Never’s ‘Animals’ in 2016. The track, from the producer’s seventh album ‘Garden Of Delete’, finds Kilmer in a dimly lit setting, staring into the camera.
Amidst glitchy, strobe lighting, he occasionally breaks into smiles, seeming to alternate between amusement and detachment. See the Rick Alverson-directed video here:
Remembering Val Kilmer. An exceptional artist and collaborator.
Oneohtrix Point Never – ‘Animals’ (2016). Dir. Rick Alverson pic.twitter.com/wKeTVHSPgP
— Warp Records (@WarpRecords) April 2, 2025
Kilmer’s appearance came after his withdrawal from the public eye after his cancer diagnosis.
In the hours since the announcement, tributes have come in from Kilmer’s Hollywood contemporaries and friends. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Michael Mann said: “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. After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”
Kilmer fans have been re-sharing stories of Kilmer’s interactions with Bob Dylan and the time that he “tickled” Lou Reed.
Stephen Merchant has also shared his memory of working with Kilmer on an episode of Life’s Too Short, in which he tried to convince Merchant and Ricky Gervais’ character to finance a sequel to his 1988 fantasy film Willow.
“Despite a combative reputation, Val Kilmer was great fun to work with on Life’s Too Short, always willing to be playful and self-deprecating,” Merchant wrote on X on Wednesday (April 2). “I got to know him socially too, and he was as engaging as he was eccentric. A true one-off. RIP Val.”
