To celebrate Father’s Day, we talked with some famous father-daughter duos about life, lessons, and love.
Val Kilmer just keeps proving how multidimensional he is. Recently, he was at the top of critics’ lists again with Val, the excellent Amazon documentary and film festival favorite exploring his personal life and career. The unflinching film reveals the ravages of the throat cancer that necessitated a tracheostomy and chemo that took his voice box and his speaking voice. It also features 40-some years’ worth of never-before-seen footage, much taken by Val himself on his personal Sony camcorder.
What a career he has had, with such great performances as his early breakthrough as Iceman in Top Gun and four years later as rock icon Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors. During the ’90s, Kilmer shone in several westerns, including Thunderheart and his much-lauded performance opposite Kurt Russell as Doc Holliday in Tombstone, immortalizing the line “I’m your huckleberry” — which would later become the title of his well-received print biography.
Most recently, Kilmer has reprised his role of Iceman in the upcoming Top Gun sequel, due out in May, and has starred with his daughter, Mercedes, in the independent film Paydirt. Having sold his beloved Santa Fe ranch, he now shares a duplex in Los Angeles with his daughter, who was a coproducer on Val.
Cowboys & Indians: What are some experiences you and Mercedes have had together in the West that made you grow close?
Val Kilmer: Ever since Mercedes was very young, we both shared a love for animals and the natural world, and this shared love has brought us together. We also loved taking riding lessons and jumping horses. We had an arena on the ranch in New Mexico. We would have endless adventures in the Wild, Wild West.
C&I: What are some other favorite things to do together?
Val: We’ve spent lots of time shopping for clothes, going on hikes in the wilderness, and just being together. We also love Native American rock art.
C&I: What’s the most important life lesson you wanted to instill in Mercedes?
Val: To be loving. To give is better than to receive. Selflessness.
C&I: Like father, like daughter — how are you two alike?
Val: Stubborn is way high up on the list. And, like me, she has a joy for life that is thrilling to see when it comes out to shine.
C&I: How about a nice memory from when she was little.
Val: She had a very vivid imagination and used to act like she was ill to elicit sympathy. When Mercedes was 3 or 4, she did this elaborate and intricate order of how she wanted her apples prepared. It went on and on, but somehow Joanne [Val’s ex-wife] and I realized she was hustling us. We looked at each other and then at our daughter, and she realized she was had. We all started laughing out loud, and it was glorious!
C&I: What makes your bond with your dad so special?
Mercedes Kilmer: I think that my dad is such a special and unique person. We’ve continued to be friends and now live very near to each other in Los Angeles.
C&I: What was it like growing up with your dad in the West?
Mercedes: My dad is a great rider. When I was growing up in Santa Fe, we would go into the mountains and he would warn me, “Don’t get lost.” We would sort of play hide-and-seek on horses, and I would come back frequently with shredded pants after a misadventure. We also loved to go camping in Ojai, California. He would make my brother and me go camping both in the rain and snow. It was really important to my dad for us to know the land around where we grew up.
C&I: Like father, like daughter — how are you alike?
Mercedes: We have a similar sense of humor. My dad is very observant. We sometimes sit together on a bench and watch people for hours and will make observations when a couple walks by, such as, “Oh, that’s not his dog; it’s his girlfriend’s dog and he hates it.” This is what makes him such a good actor. We are both very creative and love to write. Dad wrote as well as starred in Citizen Twain, a one-man show about the life of Mark Twain.
Next Dads and Daughters duo:
Buck and Reata Brannaman
From our May / June 2022 issue
Photography: Courtesy of Cork'd Entertainment
