A New Era of Storytelling with AI
Val Kilmer will make a posthumous appearance in a new film that uses generative artificial intelligence to recreate his performance. First Line Films announced on Wednesday that their forthcoming drama, As Deep as the Grave, would include an AI-generated version of the late actor.
Kilmer had been cast as Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist Father Fintan in 2020. However, he was unable to shoot due to health issues from throat cancer, which he had been diagnosed with in 2014. He had a tracheotomy, which resulted in the loss of his voice. AI was used to recreate Kilmer’s voice for his appearance in Top Gun: Maverick.
Kilmer died in April 2025 at the age of 65 from pneumonia.
The Film and Its Inspiration
As Deep As the Grave, previously titled Canyon del Muerto, follows real-life archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris, played by Abigail Lawrie and Tom Felton, who work in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, while engaging with Navajo history and culture.
The AI version of Kilmer is set to appear in “a significant part” of the film and will use images of the actor when he was young as well as footage from his last few years to show Father Fintan at different stages of his life.
The film’s writer and director, Coerte Voorhees, said Kilmer was the actor he had envisioned for the 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,” Voorhees told Variety.
Family Support and Ethical Considerations
The director shared that Kilmer had been artificially resurrected with the blessing of the actor’s daughter, Mercedes, and son, Jack.
“His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this,” he said. “It was that support that gave me the confidence to say, OK, let’s do this. Despite the fact some people might call it controversial, this is what Val wanted.”
Mercedes Kilmer said in a statement that her father was “a deeply spiritual man” and the film’s “story of discovery and enlightenment” resonated with him.
“He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling,” she said. “This spirit is something that we are all honouring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.”
According to the New York Times, Voorhees approached Mercedes last year about the possibility of using AI to create a version of her father for the film.
A previous version left out Kilmer’s character, which he felt was a “major missing element”.
The Broader Debate on AI in Filmmaking
The new version is expected to be released this year.
There’s an ongoing debate over using AI to create likenesses of actors or replace living performers with AI actors. However, several films have been using digital tools to complete their projects when actors are unable to finish filming. Paul Walker’s scenes in Furious 7 (2015) were recreated using CGI and body doubles after the actor died in a car crash during production, with his brothers standing in for him.
Previously shot footage was used to complete Carrie Fisher’s role in The Rise of Skywalker (2019), and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) used visual effects to recreate Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), decades after the actor’s death in 1994.
Industry Trends and Concerns
In September last year, multiple Hollywood stars spoke in protest after an “AI actress” named Tilly Norwood attracted major agency interest. The 2023 strike by SAG-AFTRA, the Hollywood union representing 160,000 television and movie actors, was partly related to concerns over the rise of AI in filmmaking.
Over the last decade, the movie and television industry has found several uses for AI, from de-ageing actors, analysing patterns and behaviours of viewers on streaming platforms, bringing back the voices of late actors and even helping stitch together entire movie trailers.
Independent readers are independently-minded global citizens. They are not defined by traditional demographics or profiles, but by their attitudes. In today’s increasingly fragmented world, communities value real facts and frank opinions delivered first-hand from a non-biased news brand that they can trust. Armed with information and inspiration, Independent readers are empowered and equipped to take a stand for the things they believe in.
