Five years prior to his death in 2025, Val Kilmer was cast as Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, in “As Deep as the Grave.” But Kilmer, who was battling throat cancer, was too sick to ever make it to set.
“He was the actor I wanted to play this role,” says the film’s writer and director Coerte Voorhees. “It was very much designed around him. It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest. I was looking at a call sheet the other day, and we had him ready to shoot. He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn’t do it.”
Even though he didn’t shoot a single scene, Voorhees has been able to realize his vision of having Kilmer in the ensemble by using state-of-the-art generative AI. And he’s done it with the cooperation of the late actor’s estate and his daughter Mercedes (Voorhees says Kilmer’s son Jack is also supportive).
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Val makes it seem like he wanted to record everything. I can see how having a simulacrum participate in future works would fit with that. I like the idea for the novelty and discussions it opens up but it has to be done well!
How do we feel about this, chat?
It's kinda weird seeing someone who's already passed, not sure what the reaction will be when watching the movie.
I'm not a huge fan of it, but if the person and their estate are ok with it, who am I to say no.
What person? I kinda see this more as a family decision.
I assume Val Kilmer was open to it and that the family's wishes are consistent with his. But that could be a big assumption.
Ah, okay! He might've expressed his wishes before he passed.