AI is bringing late actor Val Kilmer to life in a new movie

Veteran actor Val Kilmer, who passed away in 2025, will finally appear in the lead role in the Southwestern drama As Deep as the Grave, despite not acting in it, thanks to AI.

Kilmer had signed the project before the pandemic, but lockdowns and his throat cancer battle worsened after it, stalling the film.

Now, Director Coerte Voorhees has successfully integrated Kilmer into the film using state-of-the-art generative AI, developed in full cooperation with the actor’s family and estate. They also provided footage from Kilmer’s final days to support the process.

The remarkable feat highlights the success of ethical AI integration in Hollywood. Filmmakers emphasized that the project followed SAG guidelines and ensured the estate was fairly compensated. For Kilmer’s family, the technology serves as a tool to keep the actor evergreen.

Kilmer had previously partnered with Sonantic and embraced AI to regain his voice in 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. Likewise, several other movies have used AI to bring late actors to life in recent times.

Meanwhile, AI companies are also looking to actors to improve the chatbots’ understanding of complex human emotions. 

According to a recent job listing on Handshake, a data provider for giants like OpenAI, performers are being paid upwards of $74 per hour to engage in unscripted, filmed scenarios designed to test the limits of Large Language Models (LLMs).

However, many performers took to social media and expressed concerns that they are effectively training their own digital replacements.