Inside Val Kilmer's Life After 2-Year Cancer Battle: Touring a One-Man Show and Making Top Gun 2

Rachel DeSantis
Inside Val Kilmer's Life After 2-Year Cancer Battle: Touring a One-Man Show and Making Top Gun 2

Val Kilmer made a rare public appearance this weekend, giving fans a glimpse at his life in the wake of his throat cancer diagnosis.

The Top Gun actor, 59, gave a speech Sunday in Los Angeles at a fundraiser he hosted for his TwainMania Foundation, which he created to educate children on author Mark Twain’s legacy.

“You can be the most liberal or conservative, but [Twain’s] style of loving America is like a secret weapon to use in schools because everybody loves him,” Kilmer told The Hollywood Reporter.

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In all of my life, all I have ever wanted to do is to use art to educate. As an actor this materializes in the effort to always be entertaining and with flair. Building on that notion, I've always strived to deliver the qualities that my characters had to possess and for a good many, somehow they have lived on. I reckon it is because I have never failed to find a deep and absolutely committed truth that I could believe in and respect. This same dedication is what I have brought to the @twainmania - along with Brad and Dom, who have dedicated their lives to proving there is an inspiration in education that this kind of curriculum will be the litmus test. Last night we got to share our know-how and spirit and plan to prove it right here in Los Angeles, if you give us the chance. Though we can only achieve this nationally, with like-minded believers like you. I can't thank all my friends, who manage to join me, enough. Sanam de Loren of @delorendesign and @santiagoarana with The Agency, sincere gratitude for welcoming me and my guests to your Sky Lane house. And thank YOU for taking your time read this. I hope you’ll take a moment to support this crucial cause. Let's bring empathy, tolerance and literacy to schools together. Learn more and consider a donation by going to the link in my bio and tapping on TwainMania Foundation

A post shared by Val Kilmer (@valkilmerofficial) on Jun 3, 2019 at 11:48pm PDT

The actor added that his fascination with the writer kicked off after he started writing a movie script that soon morphed into his one-man show Cinema Twain, which he’s been touring across the country.

“That took off and I had offers to go to Broadway,” he said. “It was received so well and that was perhaps involving some new ideas that I hadn’t seen in film. So that was about 20 years ago, that’s how long I’ve been working on it, in case you’re wondering where I’ve been.”

Kilmer also shared photos from the event on Instagram, captioning, “In all of my life, all I have ever wanted to do is to use art to educate. As an actor this materializes in the effort to always be entertaining and with flair.”

Rochelle Brodin/Getty
Rochelle Brodin/Getty

Kilmer will appear in his first major role since his health woes began in 2019’s Top Gun sequel.

RELATED: Val Kilmer Makes Rare Public Appearance for His TwainMania Foundation

He’s continued to work despite his setbacks; Kilmer appeared as the title character in the 2017 horror film The Super, and briefly showed up in the Michael Fassbender film The Snowman that same year.

He also had a role in the 2018 Iranian-American comedy 1st Born.

Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to the 1986 classic, will hit theaters June 26, 2020.

“It will be a great film, I promise,” Kilmer recently told THR. “This time around had me laughing with Tom like a high schooler. He’s so funny. I hope he’s saved the world enough to take a decade and re-establish himself as a great comedian as he has it in him.”

RELATED: Val Kilmer Steps Out with His Lookalike Son After Being Cast in the Top Gun Sequel

In 2017, Kilmer admitted he had been battling throat cancer for two years in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that saw him joined by his kids Mercedes, 27, and Jack, 23.

Eva Dolezalova, Jack Kilmer and Val Kilmer | Rich Polk/Getty
Eva Dolezalova, Jack Kilmer and Val Kilmer | Rich Polk/Getty

The interview said the disease had “taken its toll” on the actor, who had a procedure on his trachea that made his voice raspy and left him short of breath.

Kilmer told the outlet he credited his Christian Scientist faith and chemotherapy with helping him fight his cancer.

Val Kilmer and daughter Mercedes | Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner
Val Kilmer and daughter Mercedes | Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner

Since sharing his story, Kilmer has been spotted out several times in public, including in June 2018 at a private screening of Jack’s film, and in August, out to lunch with Mercedes.