Val Kilmer‘s daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, is defending the late actor’s AI-generated appearance in the upcoming indie film “As Deep as the Grave.”
Kilmer’s image and likeness were recreated using generative AI for the film with the cooperation of his estate and daughter. The actor, who died in 2025 after battling throat cancer, was cast in the historical action film “As Deep as the Grave” but was too sick to shoot his role. Diagnosed with cancer in 2014, Kilmer had previously partnered with U.K.-based company Sonantic to create an AI-powered speaking voice when he reprised his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Mercedes Kilmer appeared on the “Today Show” to discuss the mixed reactions fans had to her father’s AI-generated role.
“It started off as a way to overcome the limitations of his illness, but then it evolved into something that he really was like, ‘Oh, wait. I have a chance to actually set a precedent,’” she said. “It’s kind of fallen into two camps. People that maybe have a more precarious position in the industry and are worried and see AI as a threat — which is absolutely valid — and younger people, younger actors and musicians. I’m a musician and a lot of people that I know are so scared of this technology.”
She added, “At the same time, I’ve gotten a lot of like really good responses from people — older people, people maybe more established in the industry — that see it as a way to protect that actors’ ownership of their IP. We have to contend with this technology one way or the other. And avoiding it, it’s not necessarily the way. It’s much easier to structure the rights if you proactively license something.”
Coerte Voorhees, the writer and director of “As Deep as the Grave,” previously told Variety that Kilmer’s role was “very much designed around him.”
“I was looking at a call sheet the other day, and we had him ready to shoot,” he said. “He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn’t do it.”
“His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this,” he continued. “He really thought it was [an] important story that he wanted his name on. It was that support that gave me the confidence to say, ‘Okay, let’s do this.’ Despite the fact some people might call it controversial, this is what Val wanted.”
“He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling,” Mercedes Kilmer said in a statement to Variety in March. “This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.”