Hollywood is still figuring out what to do with AI. Some folks say it mashes together other people’s work and can’t truly invent; others see it as the next evolution, like when movies added sound or color. Val Kilmer, who died in 2025, landed firmly in the second camp. He backed new tools if they pushed storytelling forward. Now there’s a movie that puts that belief to the test: As Deep as the Grave, a film he never physically shot, featuring a performance built entirely with AI.
A role built for Kilmer, even when he couldn’t make it to set
Writer-director Coerte Voorhees had Kilmer attached as far back as 2015. Then life kept getting in the way: the pandemic, the 2023 writers and actors strikes, and Kilmer’s declining health. Through all of it, Voorhees held the part for him — and ultimately recreated his performance with AI when it became clear Kilmer couldn’t film.
"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."
A first-look preview shows how Kilmer appears in the finished movie. It’s a strange sight: a significant role from an actor who never stepped on set, assembled via generative tools.
What the movie is actually about
As Deep as the Grave centers on real-life archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris and their attempts to understand their connections with the Navajo people through excavations in the American Southwest. Kilmer’s character has tuberculosis, which quietly echoes elements of his own health struggles. The production used generative AI not just for his image, but for his dialogue as well.
The cast and the family’s sign-off
- Cast: Abigail Lawrie, Tom Felton, Wes Studi, and Abigail Breslin co-star. Kilmer appears in a substantial capacity via AI.
- Family approval: His daughter Mercedes Kilmer called her father a deeply spiritual person drawn to a story about discovery and enlightenment, and said the project honors how he approached technology. His son Jack Kilmer supports it too.
- Production guardrails: Coerte and John Voorhees say the shoot followed SAG guidelines, and Kilmer’s estate was compensated. The family also provided photos and video to help the AI build his performance.
"He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling ... This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part."
Kilmer’s tech pivot didn’t start here
Before his passing, Kilmer briefly returned as Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick. To make that work, he partnered with the voice AI company Sonantic to rebuild his on-screen voice after cancer treatments affected his speech.
"As human beings, the ability to communicate is the core of our existence and the side effects from throat cancer have made it difficult for others to understand me ... The chance to narrate my story, in a voice that feels authentic and familiar, is an incredibly special gift."
Where this fits in the bigger picture
Actors showing up on screen after their deaths isn’t new. Oliver Reed’s final scenes in Gladiator were finished with digital help. Paul Walker’s face was mapped onto a stand-in to complete Furious 7. Peter Cushing’s likeness and voice anchored an entire performance in Rogue One. What feels different here is the scope: an AI-driven performance for a living, then posthumous, star, with family involvement and union compliance. That combo could end up being a template — or a flashpoint — as legal and ethical fights over AI keep shifting. Permission matters here; the filmmakers secured it. Not everyone will, and depending on how the laws evolve, some might not even have to.