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Actor Val Kilmer opens up about his battle with cancer and past relationships in new memoir

4:24
Val Kilmer opens up about his battle with cancer
Europanewswire/gado/Getty Images, FILE
ByGMA Team
April 21, 2020, 12:23 PM

Actor Val Kilmer is no stranger to telling the stories of others through film. Now, he’s telling a story close to his heart: his own.

In an exclusive interview with “Good Morning America’s” Chris Connelly, the actor got candid and opened up about his life in the spotlight and his battle with cancer.

“I feel a lot better than I sound, but I feel wonderful,” Kilmer shared.

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The actor, who shared that he was diagnosed with throat cancer also opened up about his tracheotomy, which altered the way he speaks but helps him breathe.

“My lungs and throat swelled up as well,” he said of his diagnosis.

Known for his on screen roles in the ‘80s and ‘90s as Iceman in “Top Gun” and Jim Morrison in “The Doors,” Kilmer sat down for a virtual interview with Connelly to talk about his new memoir, “I’m Your Huckleberry.”

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In the memoir where he talks about the different aspects of his life including cancer and the films he’s been in, he also details his past romances with high profile Hollywood celebrities like Cher, Ellen Barkin, Michelle Pfeiffer and Cindy Crawford.

“You have to be committed with a woman that’s as dynamic and as committed to their work as someone like Cindy Crawford who was the number one model on the planet at the time,” he said of his past relationships.

Now, Kilmer is gearing up for his return to the big screen at the end of the year in “Top Gun: Maverick,” the highly anticipated “Top Gun” sequel, in which he’ll again play Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, opposite Tom Cruise.

“It was absolutely moving,” said Kilmer. “I really was surprised and Tom was wearing his jacket from the first movie and it was just very moving.”

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