Jack Kilmer

Last updated

Jack Kilmer
Jack Kilmer at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival 02.jpg
Kilmer in 2025
Born
John Wallace Kilmer

(1995-06-06) June 6, 1995 (age 30)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Citizenship
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
OccupationActor
Years active2013–present
Parents

John Wallace Kilmer (born June 6, 1995) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the 2013 film Palo Alto , for playing Pelle "Dead" Ohlin in the 2018 Norwegian black metal biopic Lords of Chaos , and for playing Ozzy Osbourne in Ozzy's "Under the Graveyard" video. He is also the narrator of Val , a documentary about his father, Val Kilmer.

Contents

Early life

Kilmer, born on June 6, 1995, to actors Joanne Whalley and Val Kilmer, grew up in Los Angeles and attended primary school at The Center for Early Education, where he met would-be filmmaker Gia Coppola (he was in the first grade, she in the sixth). [1] He has British citizenship through his mother.

Career

Coppola asked him to review her script for Palo Alto , a film adaptation of James Franco's book of the same name which she also planned to direct. She asked him to advise whether the dialog was an authentic reflection of "kids today". [2] [1] After he ran through a table read with her, she encouraged him to audition for one of the film's main roles, Teddy. [1] Coppola filmed him as he read through the lines and this became his audition tape; he eventually won the role. [2] [3] After he was cast as Teddy, his father, actor Val Kilmer, joined the cast as the father of another character. [2] Before filming Palo Alto when he was 16 years old, Kilmer had never acted before, and did not aspire to be an actor. [1] [4]

The film was released in May 2014 to mostly positive reviews, and Kilmer's performance was described as "formidable", "naturalistic and sincere". [3] [5]

Kilmer graduated from high school in 2013. [1] He intended for his acting job on Palo Alto to be a brief project before applying to colleges, but after the film's production he decided to join acting full-time. [1] [5] In April 2014, he filmed Len and Company with Juno Temple and Rhys Ifans. He played Chet, a young film projectionist who proves vital to the investigation in the 2016 neo-noir crime buddy comedy film The Nice Guys , which was written and directed by Shane Black, who had previously worked with Kilmer's father Val on the 2005 crime buddy comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang .

In 2014, Kilmer also dipped into the high-fashion modeling world, posing for portraits in Saint Laurent's Permanent Collection, as well as walking the runway in the brand's 2015 spring-summer show. In 2018, Kilmer starred in Jonas Åkerlund's biographical horror/thriller Lords of Chaos as Pelle "Dead" Ohlin, alongside Rory Culkin and Valter Skarsgard.

Kilmer provided extensive narration for the 2021 documentary Val , which details the life of his father. In reviewing the documentary, many critics noted the similarity in voice between Jack and Val as a young man. The film premiered on Amazon Prime on August 6, 2021, following a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. [6] Jack was also heard in two episodes of the Disney+ series Willow , providing the voice of Madmartigan, the character played by his father in the original film.

Personal life

Kilmer enjoys surfing and skateboarding. He is a musician, [1] [3] playing guitar and drums, and was previously in a band called Glimmer. Most recently he has served as a touring guitarist with Brion Starr and has released his first solo EP entitled "Archaic Angelic".

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013 Palo Alto Teddy
2015 The Stanford Prison Experiment Jim Randall
2015 Len and Company Max
2016 The Nice Guys Chet
2016AsphyxiaJamesShort film
2017 Woodshock Johnny
2018 Lords of Chaos Pelle "Dead" Ohlin Dead's real name was "Per Yngve Ohlin" but his nickname "Pelle" was used in the film credit.
2018 Josie Marcus
2018 Summer '03 Luke
2018Helter SkelterShort film
2018 The Pretenders Terry
2018 Wobble Palace Dayton
2019 Hala Jesse
2019Butcher BoyIanShort film
2019Carte BlancheRobert WhiteShort film
2019The FollowerJimmy FlowersShort film
2019 The Giant Will
2019MargotOneShort film
2020DigCalebShort film
2020The Man in the WoodsHobey DelmoreShort film
2021 Body Brokers Utah
2021Hardcore HalbertHalbertShort film
2021 Val NarratorDocumentary film
2023 Detective Knight: Independence Dezi [7]
2023 Dead Man's Hand Reno
2023How the Gringo Stole ChristmasLeif
2025 Bunnylovr

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015 The Spoils Before Dying Tabby Smooth3 episodes
2021Immoral CompassZane1 episode
2021 Law & Order: Organized Crime Louis Chinasky3 episodes
2022–2023 Willow Madmartigan2 episodes
Voice role

Music videos

YearArtistTitleNotes
2019 Ozzy Osbourne "Under the Graveyard"as Ozzy Osbourne

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Creeden, Molly (August 2014). "Jack Kilmer". Interview . Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Chang, Kee (April 27, 2014). "Jack Kilmer Plays His Card". Anthem Magazine. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Aquino, Tara (May 9, 2014). "Jack Kilmer Talks Working With Dad Val Kilmer in "Palo Alto"". Complex . Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  4. Blickley, Leigh (April 24, 2014). "Jack Kilmer Talks 'Palo Alto,' His Acting Career And Growing Up With Famous Parents". The Huffington Post . Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Leon, Melissa (May 9, 2014). "Jack Kilmer on His Breakout Role in 'Palo Alto' and Life as Val Kilmer's Son". The Daily Beast . Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  6. Brian Lowry (July 23, 2021). "Val Kilmer leads a tantalizing tour of his life and career in 'Val'". CNN. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  7. P, Maddie (October 21, 2022). "Bruce Willis' 'Detective Knight' Trilogy: Release Date, Trailer, Cast, & Everything We Know So Far". Collider . Retrieved October 21, 2022.