It has been a week sinceVal Kilmerpassed away at the age of 65, and his fans, along with Hollywood, are still mourning his death but also looking back at his body of work. Drew Barrymore took the time on her talk show to look back at a special time in her life when she shared the screen with the actor in 1995’sBatman Forever, and it’s a memory that the actress is very fond of because of how much of a gentleman Kilmer was on the set.
During an episode ofThe Drew Barrymore Show, via Entertainment Weekly, the actress welcomed guest Kevin Bacon, and they both looked back on working with Kilmer and the late Joel Schumacher. While Bacon never did a film with the actor, they did a Broadway production calledThe Slab Boysin 1983 and the actor appeared in Schumacher’s 1990 filmFlatliners. For Barrymore’s part, the actress shared the screen with Kilmer inBatman Forever, which was also directed by Schumacher. With both of these talents no longer with us, Barrymore took the time to reflect on her experience working with them in the thirdBatmaninstallment.
“I was friends with Joel Schumacher, the director, who I thought of this morning because it was he and Val Kilmer that pulled me into Batman Forever and Val Kilmer was so nice to me. So nurturing, and kind and safe, which was a very important thing for me.”
Who Did Drew Barrymore Portray in ‘Batman Forever’?
Drew Barrymore co-starred inBatman Foreveras Sugar, the sweet side of Harvey Dent/Two-Face’s (Tommy Lee Jones) female sidekicks that also included Spice, portrayed by Debi Mazar. While the role wasn’t substantial, she is featured in some memorable moments, including attending a function with Edward Nygma/Riddler (Jim Carrey) as his date, which was a ruse to use Nygma’s brainwave device known as the Box to steal information from the minds of those in attendance and transfer them to himself. Bruce Wayne (Kilmer) is also a guest at the party thrown by Nygma, and the Box is used on him, which helps Nygma and Two-Face learn that he’s secretly Batman.
Of All the Batman Actors, Val Kilmer Had the Toughest Act To Follow
In ‘Batman Forever,’ Val Kilmer had the difficult task of replacing fan favorite Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader as well as a shift in directors.
The experience of working with Kilmer stuck with Barrymore because it was incredibly unique for her at the time. When Bacon guessed that Kilmer’s kindness and ability to make her feel safe on set was “probably not that common” back then, the actress agreed. Barrymore said, “Yeah, I was like, ‘Nobody wants anything from me, they want things for me. Which I thought was really interesting.” It’s nice to see that, even though it was a short time, it’s an experience of Barrymore’s journey in Hollywood that she can look back on with a positive set of eyes.
Batman Foreverwas the only time Kilmer donned the cape and cowl, taking over for Michael Keaton, who played the role in 1989’sBatmanand 1992’sBatman Returns. Released in June 1995,Batman Foreverproved to be a huge hit, out-grossing its predecessor with a domestic total of $184 million and a worldwide take of $336.6 million on a $100 million budget.Following Kilmer’s passing, fans have been revisitingBatman Foreverand reigniting requests for Warner Bros. to release theSchumacher Cutof the film, which is said to offer up an even better performance from Kilmer in the role.
Source:Entertainment Weekly
Batman Forever
