Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Val Kilmer accused of hitting actress in face during film audition

Caitlin O'Heaney was reading for a role in Oliver Stone film The Doors when the alleged incident occurred

Jacob Stolworthy
Friday 27 October 2017 11:13 BST
Comments

An actress has claimed Val Kilmer hit her during an audition for a film in the late 80s.

Caitlin O'Heaney was trying for a role in Oliver Stone film The Doors (1991) - a biographical film about the Jim Morrison-fronted rock band - when the alleged incident is said to have occurred.

The actress, who was reading a scene in which her character - Pamela Morrison - was arguing with Kilmer's, told Buzzfeed: “When I got to the room and Val Kilmer picked me up and shaked me, throwing me down to the floor [sic].

"Stone just stood there the whole time laughing.”

O'Heaney claims that afterward, she “...went down to [her] car and cried for about 20 minutes.”

“Women have come together, saying, ‘We’re not going to be f*cked by you,’” she said. "I finally have the confidence to speak about this. It’s too long that I’ve sat on this story.”

O'Heaney claims she's been inspired to speak out about the audition - which took place in 1989 - in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and is breaking a nondisclosure agreement by doing so.

While accepting that Kilmer “pinned [O'Heaney] to the wall,” the film's casting director, Risa Bramon Garcia, reportedly refutes her wider claims suggesting she halted the audition before things for “carried away.”

“It was way blown out of proportion,” she said. “I am not somebody who takes this stuff lightly. I can tell the difference between something that’s abusive and a moment that got carried away... but it was all in the context of the work.

“O’Heaney had] a very extreme reaction to a situation that to me was not extreme at all.”

Garcia states that all actresses were warned the “volatile” scene could result in physical contact.

The role eventually went to Meg Ryan.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in