Jim Carrey has paid tribute to his late Batman Forever co-star Val Kilmer following the Top Gun star’s death at age 65.
Kilmer, who died Tuesday of pneumonia, played the titular caped crusader in the 1995 film and Carey portrayed the Riddler.
In the statement obtained by People, Carrey, 63, said history will remember Kilmer for his ‘indelible acting performances’.
He also sent his sympathies to Kilmer’s family.
‘I’m remembering Val Kilmer today with great admiration for him as a man and as a generational talent who left us an enviable legacy of indelible acting performances,’ he said.
‘His greatest artistic achievements were rivaled only by the grace and courage with which he endured his life’s most challenging moments. Wishing his family so much love.’
Carrey isn’t the only Batman Forever co-star to have paid tribute to Kilmer.
Debi Mazar, who played Spice, described meeting Kilmer ‘in a dilapidated van’ with a missing door following filmmaker Vincent Gallo’s wedding.
She called him a ‘fighter’ as she noted the struggles he faced with his health.
The actor was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and underwent surgery, including a tracheotomy which permanently damaged his vocal cords and consequentially forever altered his speaking voice.
‘So sad to hear that Val Kilmer has passed. I met Val in 1984 ,in a dilapidated van that had a door missing. We had just attended Vincent Gallo’s wedding to a girl named Denise(?) in NYC.
‘The van took a bunch of us to the wedding reception in Jamaica , Queens. Super fun memory of that day… Years later ,I’d work with him in “The Doors” & “Batman Forever”
‘He was so talented & interesting. I know he struggled over the years with his health, and was a fighter.
‘My condolences to his family &loved ones .May he R.I.P.’
One of Kilmer’s best known was his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 Batman Forever, however the film received a halfhearted reception from critics.
Meanwhile director Joel Schumacher and Val clashed during the making of the film, with Joel describing the star as ‘childish and impossible’.
He said at the time that Val fought with the crew and refused to speak to him for two weeks.
Joel later called Val: ‘The most psychologically troubled human being I’ve ever worked with.’
Val pulled out of the next Batman movie and George Clooney replaced his role as the superhero in the follow up Batman & Robin in 1997.
Kilmer landed the role of Batman after following a gut instinct to call his agent.
In a 2020 profile with the New York Times, Kilmer said he first learned about the Batman role during a 1994 trip to Africa.
While there, he visited a bat cave and later followed a gut feeling to call his agent.
Once they were in touch, his agent pitched him the role.
Kilmer maintained that it was scheduling difficulties with his next movie, The Saint, which led to him dropping out of the role.
