Val Kilmer has changed his outlook on life since battling throat cancer.

Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer

The 57-year-old actor revealed earlier this year that he managed to win his two-year fight against the disease, and has now admitted he's stopped being so "serious" about things like award shows, as he's realised they aren't as important as his health and wellbeing.

He said: "I was too serious. I'd get upset when things like Oscars and recognition failed to come my way. I would like to have more Oscars than anybody. Meryl Streep must feel pretty good, you know? It must feel nice to know that everyone loves her. It's about being loved."

Shortly after Val's diagnoses, his 26-year-old daughter Mercedes was hit by a car in a scary accident which left her with a scar down her leg.

She said of the time: "We were in the same hospital at the same time."

And the double health scare took its toll on the rest of the family, with Val's 22-year-old son Jack claiming he was "distraught" by the events.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter's Hollywood Legacies issue alongside his sister and father, Jack said: "I was just, you know, miserable, distraught, sitting next to these two."

Previously, the 'Top Gun' actor addressed his cancer battle during a Reddit Q&A session, in which he claimed his faith as a Christian helped him overcome his disease.

When asked by a fan how his cancer battle was progressing, he said in May: "I am very grateful for all the prayers and good thoughts from around the world. People that know I am a Christian Scientist make the assumption that I have somehow endangered myself. But many many people have been healed by prayer throughout recorded history. And many many people have died by whatever was modern medicine."

Val first admitted to having battled the disease in April when he claimed he had a "healing of cancer", after having previously dubbed his friend Michael Douglas as "misinformed" when he alluded to the star's battle with throat cancer in October last year.

In a previous session on Reddit, Val was asked by a fan: "A while ago, Michael Douglas claimed you had terminal cancer. What was the story behind that?"

To which the 'Batman Forever' actor said: "He was probably trying to help me because press probably asked where I was these days, and I did have a healing of cancer, but my tongue is still swollen although healing all the time. Because I don't sound my normal self yet people think I may still be under the weather."


Tagged in