Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • Services
    • Aircheck for Actors
    • Demo Reels
    • Audition Prep/Self-Tape Reader
    • Mailing Labels
    • Contribute
    • Industry Links
    • Advertise
    Daily Actor
    • Acting Tips
      • Actors on Acting
      • Advice Columns
      • Acting Quotes
      • Audition Tapes
      • How To Become An Actor
      • How to Memorize Lines
    • Monologues
      • Monologues from Plays
      • Monologues from Movies
      • Monologues from Musicals
      • Comedic Monologues
      • Dramatic Monologues
      • One Minute Monologues
      • Monologues for Women
      • Monologues for Men
      • Monologues for Teens
      • Monologues for Kids
      • All Monologues
    • Acting Resources
      • Acting Resume
        • Acting Resume Template
      • Acting Classes
        • Los Angeles Acting Classes
        • Las Vegas Acting Classes
        • San Diego Acting Classes
      • Acting Schools and Colleges
        • Los Angeles
        • New York
        • BFA Acting Schools
      • Casting Websites
      • Headshot Photographers
        • Los Angeles
        • New York City
        • Headshot Printing
      • Acting Techniques
        • What is Method Acting?
      • Stage Directions
      • Demo Reels: Everything You Need to Know
    • Interviews
      Featured
      Casting Director Interview - Brett Benner and Debby Romano

      Interview: Casting Directors Brett Benner and Debby Romano Talk ‘Shrinking’, Finding Actors and More

      Recent
      Casting Director Interview - Brett Benner and Debby Romano

      Interview: Casting Directors Brett Benner and Debby Romano Talk ‘Shrinking’, Finding Actors and More

      March 6, 2023
      Jeremy Davis Olaf in Frozen Interview

      Interview: Jeremy Davis on Playing Olaf in ‘Frozen’, Costume Mishaps and Making the Role His Own

      January 19, 2023
      Casting Director Kim Coleman Interview

      Interview: Casting Director Kim Coleman on ‘Five Days at Memorial’, Self-Tape Tips and Portraying Real People

      January 11, 2023
    • Actor Blogs
    • Reviews
      • Movies
      • Theater
      • Books
      • Products
    • Actor Services
      • Airchecks
      • Demo Reels
      • Website Design
      • Mailing Labels
    Daily Actor
    Home » Actor Tips » Val Kilmer on Breaking into Hollywood: “Work till you cry yourself to sleep every night for months on end”
    Actor Tips

    Val Kilmer on Breaking into Hollywood: “Work till you cry yourself to sleep every night for months on end”

    Chris McKittrickBy Chris McKittrickMay 12, 2017Updated:September 16, 2018No Comments2 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

    Actor Val Kilmer

    “Never, ever, ever, ever, ever take a day off.” – Val Kilmer on Breaking into Acting

    Few actors know the ups and downs of Hollywood like Val Kilmer, an actor who build up an impressive resume in the late 1980s and early 1990s culminating in playing the Caped Crusader in 1995’s Batman Forever. Yet Kilmer was unable to capitalize on his Batman success. He not only did not return for the sequel Batman and Robin (of course, he dodged a bullet of failure there), he has often struggled to find strong roles ever since.

    To promote the tour of Citizen Twain — Kilmer’s filmed version of his popular one-man show about Mark Twain — Kilmer participated in an “Ask Me Anything” chat on Reddit. In one instance, Kilmer was asked to share any advice he had for breaking into the business. Kilmer offered a remarkably candid response:

    “Work till you cry yourself to sleep every night for months on end. Work so hard you pass out and wake up crying. Become a world class athlete. Read Shakespeare every day to learn about human nature. EVERY DAY. FOR DECADES. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever take a day off. And never complain. It’s the best job on earth and worth it when you break through. They say Dustin Hoffman couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag, and I knew Kevin Spacey since he was like 15 and he was sooooooooooo bad it used to hurt my eyes. But boy did he work hard and deserves all his awards.”

    Kilmer offered another succinct piece of advice when someone asked if the actor — known for taking on an eclectic selection of roles — if he ever felt typecast. He responded: “I have never been typecast. Made sure of that.” In other words — it’s up to an actor to make sure he or she isn’t typecast.

    Related

    Previous ArticleJudi Dench: “I think it is terribly important to know that whole history of theatre we have”
    Next Article Tracy Letts: “I like to do things that scare me”

    Related Posts

    Jeremy Strong in Armageddon Time

    Jeremy Strong: “There’s infinite ways really to play any part. So you have to discover what feels necessary”

    March 14, 2023
    Christina Ricci

    How Christina Ricci Chooses Her Characters and Why She Loves ‘Yellowjackets’

    March 9, 2023
    Casting Director Interview - Brett Benner and Debby Romano

    Interview: Casting Directors Brett Benner and Debby Romano Talk ‘Shrinking’, Finding Actors and More

    March 6, 2023
    Add A Comment

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Daily Actor Facebook Daily Actor Twitter Daily Actor Instagram Daily Actor Pinterest Daily Actor YouTube Page
    Popular Pages
    Become An Actor | Acting Tips | Acting Quotes
    Acting Resume | Resume Template
    Headshot Photographers
    Los Angeles | New York
    Print Your Headshots
    Acting Schools & Colleges
    Los Angeles | New York
    Monologues
    Movies | Plays | Comedic | Dramatic
    Men | Women | Teens | Kids
    • Contact
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Resource Listings
    • Write A Column
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy

    Disclaimer: Daily Actor at times uses affiliate links to sites like Amazon.com, streaming services, and others. Affiliate links provides compensation to Daily Actor which helps us remain online, giving you the resources and information actors like you are looking for.

    © 2023 Daily Actor

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.