They say you should always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, in which case it’s better to be Batman. Well, in the case of Val Kilmer, it ended up not being true. More than 25 years after playing the Caped Crusader in 1995’s “Batman Forever,” Kilmer is now opening up about his decision to quit playing the character after one performance.
READ MORE: Joel Schumacher on ‘Batman Forever’ Star Val Kilmer: “He Was Psychotic”
For years, Kilmer has said he simply couldn’t return to the role for “Batman & Robin” due to scheduling conflicts with other projects like “The Saint,” but there were also plenty of behind the scenes stories that alluded to Kilmer being difficult to work with. Director Joel Schumacher went as far as describing Kilmer as “psychotic.” Now, as part of an extensive interview with the New York Times, Kilmer revealed he did decide to quit the role, but not for problems with the production.
As Val Kilmer says it, one day during filming he remained in the Batsuit because he’d heard some visitors were coming to the set and wanted to see Batman. The guests turned out to be Warren Buffet and his family. But when they came in, they didn’t want to talk to Kilmer. Instead, they wanted to try on the mask and play with the Batmobile.
This made Kilmer realize that the idea of Batman is real, that anyone could be under the mask. “That’s why it’s so easy to have five or six Batmans,” he said. “It’s not about Batman. There is no Batman.”
As for the stories of Kilmer being difficult on set, the actor explained, “Everyone has to work out their own salvation. How to live and by what morality, and I found that the part that I feel bad about is hurting somebody in the process.”
