Joel Schumacher was a celebrated American film director, screenwriter, and producer, known to have created a diverse filmography across varied genres. Not only did he make several box office successful movies but is also acknowledged for his contribution to popular culture as well as to the superhero mythos of the DC universe.
While both of his two DC ventures Batman Forever and Batman & Robin remain a success, he later revealed that he hated working with two of his Batman Forever actors, Val Kilmer, and Tommy Lee Jones, and vowed to never work with them again and bring them back again in the subsequent sequel, Batman & Robin.
Joel Schumacher Hated Working With Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer played Batman in the Joel Schumacher-directed 1995 movie Batman Forever. While the movie was a success and received largely positive reviews, it was the last and the first time they ever worked together. And the reason was Kilme’s attitude and on-set behavior.
The Ghost and the Darkness star was going through a tough time and was involved in a messy divorce with his ex-wife. in an interview, the director revealed (via FarOut Magazine),
“I had heard horror stories about Val and was warned not to hire him. But I have heard that about many talented people, hired them anyway, and had no problems whatsoever.”
However, his experience was just as people had told him. Apparently, Kilmer had insisted that everyone address him as ‘Mr. Kilmer’ and was also frequently late to the set. But things didn’t end there for he would often mumble his lines slowly and even ‘stubbed a cigarette out on the face of a cameraman’ (via Vulture).
In an interview with Vulture, the star stated referring to one of his previous interviews about the actor,
“And I didn’t say Val [Kilmer] was difficult to work with on Batman Forever. I said he was psychotic.”
The late director was also happy when Kilmer refused to speak with him for two weeks, stating them as pure bliss (via FarOut Magazine).
Joel Schumacher On Working With Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones did not like working with Jim Carrey on the set of Batman Forever. The on-set feud between the two actors resulted in Joel Schumacher not wanting to work with him. In an interview with Vulture, the director stated,
“He was fabulous on The Client. But he was not kind to Jim Carrey when we were making Batman Forever… Tommy is, and I say this with great respect, a scene stealer. Well, you can’t steal the scene from Jim Carrey. It’s impossible. And, I think it irked Tommy.”
In a separate interview, he had labeled Jones as an ‘a**hole’, while remarking (via Vulture),
“I’m tired of defending overpaid, overprivileged actors. I pray I don’t work with them again.”
Despite his bad experience working with the two actors and not wanting to work with them ever again, The Client director stated that there was no bad take with Jones and that Kilmer was fabulous as Batman.
Batman Forever can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
Source: FarOut Magazine and Vulture
