Featured Image Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Topics: Art, Cancer, Celebrity, News, Val Kilmer
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Art, Cancer, Celebrity, News, Val Kilmer
After Val Kilmer's tracheostomy permanently damaged his vocal cords, the actor had to find a different outlet to channel his creativity.
Kilmer shot to fame in Top Gun in the 1980s, and went on to star in movies like Batman Forever, Tombstone, The Doors, and Heat.
Of course, a huge part of acting is having the ability to speak, something which became increasingly more difficult for Kilmer after undergoing a tracheostomy due to the effects of his throat cancer treatment.
He was diagnosed with the illness in 2014 and, while he went on to overcome it, his surgery left his vocal cords badly damaged.
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Because of this, Kilmer moved away from the film industry. He did, however, reprise is role of Iceman in the critically acclaimed movie Top Gun: Maverick — a role that went on to become his last.
Acting had always been his main creative outlet, but after stepping away from Hollywood, Kilmer, who sadly died yesterday, said his 'creative juices were boiling over and pouring out of [him]'.
With this in mind, he needed a new way to channel his creativity that wasn't acting.
He did his through his love of art and created something he called Kamp Kilmer, which is described as 'a place of collaboration, creativity, and true connection between people through art'.
The late Hollywood veteran announced its creation in 2022 in a first-hand blog post shared to his website.
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HOW VAL KILMER ENDED UP STARRING IN TOP GUN SEQUEL DESPITE HAVING NO VOICE
The moving post read: "My name is Val Kilmer. I'm an artist. I've lived a magical life. For more than half a century, I have been honing my art, no matter the medium. Be it literature, movies, poetry, painting, music, or tracking exotic and beautiful wildlife in the most remote African bush, to capture ephemeral moments with a camera, I yearn to express my creative spirit.
"Six years ago, I was diagnosed with throat cancer, and after much prayer, medical science, and the love of my family and community, I beat cancer. But because of the radiation and chemotherapy interventions, my voice and throat were severely damaged. It isn't easy to talk and be understood.
"I am improving all the time, but am not able to be out in the world the same way I had become accustomed. When one thing is taken, though, another is given."
Kilmer went on: "With little voice, my creative juices were boiling over and pouring out of me. I started creating again, painting, writing anything I could."
He said at the time that art was 'healing him', and that he wanted to share his work with others, so he found a studio in Hollywood.
The late actor shared a lot of his art work on his social media pages and used his website a way of selling his pieces.
The Batman Forever star's final Instagram post shared in the weeks leading up to his death was a photo of one of his paintings.