What Health Problems Does Val Kilmer Have And How Did He Get His Voice Back?

In making the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise and the creative team had to take into account a number of things.

Val Kilmer played Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the first Top Gun. However, Kilmer’s actual health problems made it difficult to bring back the character. When the actor underwent a tracheotomy to combat throat cancer a number of years ago, his voice completely changed.

Equally stoic to Iceman in sternness. Ever since Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer over five years ago, he has been on a health journey.

Details About Val Kilmer’s Health Issues

After first denying he was unwell, Val Kilmer finally came clean about having throat cancer in 2017, discussing how the condition had altered his outlook on life.

Kilmer revealed his initial reluctance to seek medical assistance in a candid interview with the New York Times. The Times writes that Kilmer’s children ultimately persuaded him to get treatment for his throat cancer, which included numerous rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. The surgeries helped Kilmer to recover from his throat cancer diagnosis and apparently enter remission, as reported by several sources, including his 2020 documentary Val and his memoir I’m Your Huckleberry.

Sadly, Kilmer’s treatments required a tracheostomy tube and a feeding tube, thus rendering him unable to talk as he previously had.

Val said in his 2021 documentary that he eats through a tube.

“”I can’t talk unless I plug this hole in my throat,” he said, adding, “You have to choose whether to breathe or eat.”

Most of the documentary was told by his son, but Kilmer added, “It’s a problem that everyone who sees me is aware of. He says he sounds “much worse” than he feels.

“I have done strange things to some people,” he said. “I don’t deny any of this, and I don’t feel bad about it because I’ve lost and found parts of myself I didn’t know existed. I am lucky.”

Val Kilmer Health Update

Kilmer said in an interview that aired on Good Morning America in April 2020 that the procedure was done as part of his recovery and to help him feel less pain at the time.

He said, “I feel a lot better than I sound, but I feel great.” “I was told I had throat cancer, which got better very fast. This is a tracheotomy to help me breathe because the glands in my throat swelled up.”

Sameep Kadakia, MD, director of Premier Health’s Comprehensive Head and Neck Cancer and Reconstruction Program, tells Premier Health Now that Kilmer’s return to the big screen with his voice damaged by cancer sends a strong message to cancer patients and their families.

He also says that since the first “Top Gun,” treatment for head and neck cancer “has come a long way, with a real focus on restoring quality of life, not just length of life.”

Kilmer had chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and tracheostomy surgery as part of his treatment. He is no longer thought to have cancer.

If a patient loses their voice, there are a number of ways to help them communicate.

In his scene, Kilmer uses a device to type out what he says to Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who is played by Tom Cruise. He also says a line that can be heard. His voice was cloned using technology based on artificial intelligence and recordings made before his cancer treatment.

Also read: Al Roker Health Update: Thankful To Be Back Home

How Val Kilmer Got His Voice Back

Kilmer said in August 2021 that he was working with Sonantic to give himself a voice powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The actor gave the company hours of old footage of him talking, which was then put through the company’s algorithms and made into a model. Fortune says that this process was used again for the actor’s role in “Top Gun: Maverick,”

In a statement to Forbes, John Flynn, CTO and cofounder of Sonantic, said, “In the end, we made more than 40 different voice models and chose the best, highest-quality, most expressive one.” This was not related to the movie. “These new algorithms are now built into our voice engine, so all of our future clients will be able to use them.”

In an early statement about the A.I., Kilmer said, “I’m grateful to the whole team at Sonantic, who restored my voice in a way I never thought possible.” “As humans, being able to talk is the most important part of being alive, but the side effects of throat cancer have made it hard for other people to understand me. It’s a very special gift to be able to tell my story in a voice that sounds real and familiar.