In a recently unearthed basement tape, I found an interview I did with one of my all-time favorites, Val Kilmer, about his 2005 action comedy “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.” Kilmer starred along Robert Downey Jr. and Michelle Monaghan in the film, which was directed by Shane Black and produced by Joel Silver.

Back in the day, I used to record all of my interviews for my print articles on cassette tape, and the conversations have rarely been heard publicly. Interestingly enough, while Kilmer’s produced an amazing body of work including “Top Gun,” “Tombstone,” and “Heat,” I didn’t bring up any of those films in my conversation with Kilmer. That’s because I was completely blown away by “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and the actors’ flawless performance in the picture, that the thoughts of Kilmer’s previous films, quite honestly, didn’t even enter my mind.

Sadly, Kilmer has battled some serious health issues in the past decade, which makes this opportunity I had to talk him with feel all the more poignant. Since he’s making his big-screen comeback this week in an emotional turn in “Top Gun: Maverick,” I felt now is a good time as any to share a couple clips from the interview, with the promise of much more to come!

BELOW: Kilmer discusses his fateful meeting with Robert Downey Jr., which quickly led to him joining “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.”

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BELOW: Kilmer talks about how “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” gave him the rare opportunity to act in a comedy.

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BELOW: The first time I talked with Kilmer was during a roundtable session for his sci-fi thriller “Red Planet” in 2000. Click to hear Kilmer and his co-star Simon Baker below.

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” with Tom Barnard on KQRS-FM, “Paul and Jordana” with Paul Douglas and Jordana Green on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes” on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Paul and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on NBC affiliate KARE on the news program “KARE 11 News at 11”.

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