Val Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes was spotted out for the first time following the actor’s death at 65.
The 33-year-old was pictured outside of her West Hollywood home on Wednesday morning wearing a black sweatshirt, dark boots and sunglasses. Mercedes carried two big white bags, a purse and a coat in one arm.
She was photographed texting on her phone in one snap, while a second shot showed the actress hugging her mom and Kilmer’s ex-wife, Joanne Whalley, 63.
The outing came after Mercedes told the New York Times that the “Top Gun” alum died from pneumonia on Tuesday. He was previously diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015. Kilmer underwent two tracheotomies that permanently altered the sound of his voice, but he later recovered.Kilmer was close to his daughter and son, Jack, 29. Despite splitting with Whalley after seven years of marriage in 1995, the “Batman” star remained a constant in his children’s lives.
“I can’t be a responsible parent and only be there three or four months a year,” Kilmer told Vanity Fair in 2012.
“The producer called me up and asked me if I would play this role and I said, ‘I don’t know if you’ve found anybody yet to play my daughter, but I might have someone for you. Her name is Mercedes Kilmer and perhaps you’d be interested in meeting with her,’” Kilmer told People at the time. “Mercedes and the producer met and they all had a ball.”
In the film, the icon played a sheriff who had a speech disability like he had in real life, something that was pretty spectacular to see on the screen.“It’s pretty historic to have a lead with a speech disability,” Mercedes acknowledged. “I hope that it heralds more doors opening like that in the future.”
The actress spoke candidly about her dad’s health battle.
“It’s obvious my dad’s speech is compromised and so this whole experience revealed the personal effort I had put into working with actors with a disability, which I hadn’t done before,” Mercedes reflected. “It revealed how much I had to gain from working with people who have different abilities. My dad’s able to very artfully circumvent the limitations of his speech, so I learned so much watching him, how he communicated physically. It taught me so much about acting that expanded what I thought acting was, which was central to speech.”
Kilmer felt he was taught a lot from his eldest child, revealing he learned “everything — life itself” from Mercedes.
The challenges Kilmer faced also brought them closer together.
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Kilmer and Whalley in the fantasy adventure movie, “Willow”, in 1988.
MGM/Everett Collection
“The health challenges have been just that, challenging, but so many good things have come out of it,” she expressed. “We all spend so much time together. Even just getting to meet all my dad’s friends from before I was born — there are so many beautiful things that happen when you need help from people.”
Kilmer was last photographed five years before his passing, with his daughter by his side.
The duo were photographed attending the annual Thespians Go Hollywood Gala at Avalon Hollywood on Nov. 18, 2019.
Kilmer and Mercedes posed for pictures together on the red carpet.
The late star was also close with Jack, who narrated his dad’s 2021 documentary “Val.”
