Val Kilmer's Beautiful Daughter Advocates for Using AI-Generated Version of Her Late Father in New Film
Val Kilmer's beautiful daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, is opening up about why she's in favor of using AI-generated versions of her late father in films.
Mercedes, 34, was glowing during a Tuesday appearance on TODAY as she spoke about her father, who rose to stardom in films like Top Gun and The Doors. An AI-generated version of her father appears in the upcoming film As Deep As the Grave, and Mercedes went on to say that her dad "wanted to do this" out of a desire to create "structures for actors to own their licensing and to have rights."
Kilmer passed away from pneumonia after he had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014.
"My dad was very passionate that this is the time, before these laws are written, to make sure that there's a structure for compensation, to make sure that actors get paid on par with what they would get paid if they were physically doing it, and if it creates more jobs in that way, that's wonderful," Kilmer explained to Craig Melvin and Savannah Guthrie.
"I think this is a really historic precedent, and I'm really proud of him," she continued. "It started off as something 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 precedent.'"
Check out Mercedes Kilmer on Today below:
Did They Use AI in Top Gun: Maverick?
Yes! Kilmer made his last film appearance in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick, reprising his role as Lt. Tom "Iceman" Kazansky from the original 1986 film. The project reunited him with the movie's iconic star, Tom Cruise. However, since Kilmer had already lost his voice at the time, they used a "voice engine" to teach a voice model how to speak like Kilmer, Fortune reported.
Check out some clips of the legendary star Top Gun: Maverick:
Related: Val Kilmer Fans React to His AI Resurrection in New Movie Trailer
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 8:17 AM.