Val Kilmer recently published his new memoir, and in it he claims a “dark angel” resembling Darth Vader “tore out” his heart. Recounting the story, Kilmer says it took place decades ago, in New Mexico. The actor, who would have been in his 20s at the time, shares in the biography that though the description of this “dark angel” would ruin the seriousness of the moment, he believed him to resembling the Star Wars villain.
“It will ruin the absolute gravity of this moment but in truth this dark angel looked very like Darth Vader, though without the helmet,” Kilmer said of the “amorphous black figure,” per a report from The Times. He went on to say that he could only watch as the dark figure reached in and removed his heart, but then the figure replaced it with a “bigger one.” Kilmer added, “At first, I thought it was the Angel of Death, before I realized it was the Angel of Life.” The actor the said, “I wish I could elucidate the experience the experience more than I have ever done, but I can’t. It simply happened.” Finally, Kilmer wrote, “I am grateful for the new heart. It has served me well. And I’ve only just begun to use it.”
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Kilmer’s new memoir is titled I’m Your Huckleberry, which is reference to the classic ’90s western Tombstone. The movie centers around the story of the famous shootout at the OK corral in Tombstone, Arizona, and features Kilmer as Doc Holliday. The rest of the lead cast is rounded out by Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp, Sam Elliott as Virgil Earp, and Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp. The film was originally meant to be directed by its screenwriter, Kevin Jarre, but he was replaced one month into production by George P. Cosmatos. Both men have since passed away.
Notably, Kilmer put out a blog post in 2017, claiming that, while Cosmatos was credited, it was essentially Russell who directed the film. “I was there every minute and although Kurt’s version differs slightly from mine, the one thing he’s totally correct about is how hard he worked the day before, for the next day’s shot list, and tremendous effort he and I both put into editing, as the studio [Hollywood Pictures] wouldn’t give us any extra time to make up for the whole month we lost with the first director,” Kilmer wrote. “I watched Kurt sacrifice his own role and energy to devote himself as a storyteller, even going so far as to draw up shot lists to help our replacement director, George Cosmatos, who came in with only two days prep.”
