While Kilmer had the opportunity to properly convey his emotions in scenes as Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne in "Batman Forever," it's the character in the title who audiences came to see, so that meant the actor spent a fair amount of time in the rubber Bat suit. As such, Kilmer pointed out in the documentary, his acting ability was severely restricted in the costume to the point where he needed help even standing up — and that was only one of the issues.
"I couldn't hear anything and after a while people stopped talking to me," Kilmer said in the documentary. Given little chance to be as animated as his co-stars Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones, who brought zany energy to their portrayals of The Riddler and Two-Face, respectively, Kilmer said among the few moves he could make as Batman was putting his hands on his hips. It's a move he deferred to over and over again in his scenes opposite Bruce Wayne's love interest, Dr. Chase Meridian, played by Nicole Kidman.
"I think it made no difference what I was doing," Kilmer said in the documentary. "I tried to be like an actor on a soap opera. When I would turn to Nicole ... I couldn't count how many times I put my hands on my hips."
Not surprisingly, Kilmer turned down the offer to reprise the role for another "Batman" movie and went on to star in the big-screen adaptation of the hit Roger Moore spy series "The Saint," which he said in the documentary "was like ten roles in one." Clooney went on to replace Kilmer in "Batman and Robin" in 1997, the last in the live-action Dark Knight franchise until director Christopher Nolan rebooted it with Bale in 2005.
