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John Kani and Val Kilmer shared the screen when they were both cast in the 1996 action film 'The Ghost and the Darkness'.
Picture: @KANI_ELDER/X
Internationally respected South African actor John Kani has joined many in the world who have mourned the passing of US actor Val Kilmer, reflecting on their time working together.
“What an amazing actor and a great human being. His passing is yet another loss to the film industry,” wrote Kani on his X account.
The 65-year-old Kilmer, who had roles in successful films such as Top Gun and Batman Forever, passed away earlier this week.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes confirmed the actor’s cause of death in an interview with the New York Times, saying he succumbed to pneumonia.
Kilmer had been living with previously been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. He reportedly required two tracheotomies because of the illness. His struggles with the disease left him with limited speaking ability.
In 2022, a sequel to one of Kilmer’s most successful films, Top Gun, was released, in which he reprised his role as Iceman.
Top Gun lead actor Tom Cruise said he became emotional when he saw Kilmer on set, given Kilmer’s health issues.
“I’ve known Val for decades and for him to come back and play that character… he’s such a powerful actor that he instantly became that character again,” said Cruise in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2023.
ALSO READ: Val Kilmer, star of ‘Batman Forever’ and ‘Top Gun’, dies aged 65
Kani and Kilmer shared the screen when they were both cast in the 1996 action film The Ghost and the Darkness.
The film is about a railroad engineering project in Africa which gets interrupted when the project’s foreman, portrayed by Shaka Zulu actor Henry Cele, is killed by a lion.
Kilmer played the role of the engineer overseeing the project, with US actor Michael Douglas as the hunter called in to deal with a pair of marauding lions. Kani played the role of Samuel, another foreman.
“We had a wonderful time together in The Ghost and the Darkness with Michael Douglas,” Kani said.
In the same way Kani reflected on working with Kilmer on the Stephen Hopkins-directed film, Douglas also shared an old photo of the two on the set of the film, accompanied by a heartfelt message.
“RIP Val Kilmer. It was an honor working with Val on The Ghost and the Darkness nearly 30 years ago,” wrote Douglas.
“Val will be greatly missed, but his legacy will live on forever in the films and performances he so brilliantly shared with us.”
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