"He was the actor I wanted to play this role. It was very much designed around him. It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest. I was looking at a call sheet the other day, and we had him ready to shoot. He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn't do it."
"His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this. He really thought it was an important story that he wanted his name on. It was that support that gave me the confidence to say, 'Okay, let's do this.'"
"Normally, we would just recast an actor. I'm all about working with our actors, and we have brilliant performances all throughout this movie. But we can't roll camera again. We don't have the budget. We're not a big studio film."
Val Kilmer, who passed away in April 2025, will be digitally resurrected through generative AI technology to play Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist, in the upcoming film As Deep as the Grave. Director Coerte Voorhees chose not to recast the role because it was specifically designed around Kilmer's Native American heritage and connection to the Southwest. Kilmer was scheduled to film but became unable to due to medical issues. With support from Kilmer's family and estate, who believed the film was important to the actor, Voorhees decided to use state-of-the-art AI technology to complete the performance. The director acknowledges the controversial nature of this decision but maintains it aligns with Kilmer's wishes and the film's budget constraints.
Read at Kotaku
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