Val Kilmer's Formal Theater Training Got In The Way Of Having Fun In Top Secret!

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If you've never seen the 1984 comedy "Top Secret!" (and if not, you should remedy that immediately), it's a film that pulls double-duty as both a spoof of spy movies and Elvis Presley. The comedy in the film is equal parts broad, clever, slapstick, and dumb, as you might expect from Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers, David and Jerry, who previously unleashed "Airplane!" on the world. And as you might also expect, it's also uproariously funny. But the film is most memorable for introducing audiences to Val Kilmer, who turns in a star-making performance as Nick Rivers — a rock and roll heartthrob who gets pulled into the world of international espionage and intrigue.

Given Kilmer's reputation as a serious actor, thanks to stellar turns in movies like "Tombstone," "The Doors," and "Heat," it's easy to forget that his earliest work on the big screen was in the comedy genre. Between "Top Secret!" and "Real Genius," he could have easily continued down the path of being one of the best and funniest leading men in cinema. But that's a far cry from where he started, as the Juilliard-trained actor came from the world of theater. 

With his background as a stage actor, and coming from the most prestigious performing arts school in the United States, it probably won't come as a surprise that settling into the goofy world of screwball comedy didn't exactly come naturally. Being silly is a prerequisite on the set of a Zucker and Abrahams movie — especially one that even has a song called "How Silly Can You Get." But as Kilmer has admitted, that wasn't really his style. At least, not at first.

Now obviously, Kilmer's not the first serious actor to pop in a big comedy performance. Abrahams and the Zuckers had already proven that the straighter an actor plays their material, the funnier it is. Such was the case with Leslie Nielsen and Robert Stack in "Airplane!" But Kilmer was only 24 at the time he made "Top Secret!" and devoted to the craft. He'd most recently been doing Shakespeare, so cutting loose wasn't second nature just yet. As Kilmer told ScreenCrush in a 2014 oral history celebrating the movie's 30-year anniversary:

"My acting training is formal and I was fresh out of Hamlet-land and the Juilliard School. The boys always wanted me to have more fun, but I wanted to be good and I took it all way too seriously."

Ultimately, the actor learned how to embrace the zaniness of movies like "Top Secret!" and, as recently as 2010, Christopher Nolan favorite "MacGruber." All he had to do was learn how to actually have a good time on set. As he told ScreenCrush, "Message to young actors: When your bosses tell you to have more fun, believe them and do it. It doesn't happen that often!"

Speaking to People in 2025, David Zucker recalled just how good Kilmer was from the get-go, starting with his audition. "He read [the script] great. We were all smiling. We thought, well, this guy's pretty good. But then he launches into an impromptu rendition of an Elvis song, 'Turn Me Loose,'" as Zucker remembered it. "He had brought a tape with him of the music. He was incredible. And he's doing the dancing and everything. We were laughing the whole time," the filmmaker added.

Kilmer may not have not trained for comedy, but the actor actually asserted himself as a truly great comedic actor in the '80s, with movies like "Real Genius" also under his belt. But there's also something to be said about the fact that Kilmer took his role in "Top Secret!" seriously. "It's kind of weirdly engaging that I'm clearly taking all the lunacy so seriously," Kilmer also said in the ScreenCrush piece.

This is not unlike how Leslie Nielsen tended to play things straight in his spoof movies, including "Airplane!" Even so, Zucker acknowledged some shortcomings when it came to the character of Nick Rivers in his 1984 comedy. "We didn't write a good character for Val. He was a Juilliard trained actor and suddenly he plunged into this silly movie, costarring with a cow wearing boots," Zucker said in the same interview with People.

Though "Top Secret!" wasn't a success in its day, it's one of those movies that went on to have a long life well beyond the box office. It also helped jumpstart Kilmer's career, which proved to be long and fruitful up until his health declined in his later years. Kilmer, in the same ScreenCrush piece, reflected on the whole experience with positivity:

"The boys worked bloody hard to be that wacky. It paid off for everyone — we went on to enjoy the rarified air of success in film."

Sadly, the world ultimately lost Kilmer at the age of 65. In the aftermath of his passing, David Zucker penned a remembrance for The Hollywood Reporter that was published the day after the actor's passing on April 2, 2025.

"Over the ensuing years, I would run into him on occasion at a party, at our shared attorney's office, a premiere, and always he'd be gracious, very un-Hollywood, I was glad to see," Zucker remarked. "We'd say hello and reminisce a bit. The last time I saw him was outside my house a year ago; he had rented a place just up the street."

Kilmer reminisced gladly about his time making more serious movies such as "Heat" or even "Tombstone" over the years, but "Top Secret!" wasn't usually at the top of that list. However, as Zucker further recounted, he was upset about the forthcoming reboot of "The Naked Gun," a franchise he pioneered. That's when Kilmer gave him a piece of advice that brought their whole relationship full circle:

"By that time, he was quite ill, but we chatted for a while, and I remember him being surprised that I had been excluded from the upcoming sequel to 'Naked Gun.' I had just finished a script, 'Naked Gun 4: Nordberg Did It,' with the superb writers Mike McManus and Pat Proft, who had worked with Val on [the 1985 film] 'Real Genius.' But suddenly, I read that Paramount had given the franchise to Seth MacFarlane! Naturally, I was shocked. But Kilmer's reaction? This green rookie actor from 40 years ago just laughed and advised me, 'That's Hollywood!'"

You can grab "Top Secret!" on DVD from Amazon.