The criminally underrated MacGruber gave us one of Val Kilmer’s greatest comedic performances, but it almost gave us something even better. Following the beloved actor’s passingOpens in a new tab, his co-star Will Forte wrote a personal essay for VultureOpens in a new tab about their friendship. His beautiful ode includes one of the greatest “what-ifs” in Hollywood history. Val Kilmer wanted the two of them to compete on The Amazing Race together, and they really would have if not for their agents.
Forte’s homage to his late friend is as touching a tribute as any that have come out following Val Kilmer’s passing at 65. Their friendship began when Kilmer agreed to play the super villain Dieter Von Cunth in MacGruber. The two more than stayed in touch after filming. At one point Kilmer lived with Forte for a couple of months. That led to a truly incredible sliding doors moment. Forte said that The Amazing Race, which he liked to watch, won over a skeptical Kilmer. The Top Gun star not only went from thinking the reality show was crap to wanting the two of them to compete on it.
And Forte was all in. Seriously. This almost happened. The two of them wanted it to. Here’s how Forte relayed the story of Kilmer’s pitch and the incredibly frustrating reason it didn’t happen:
“Will, you and I have to go do The Amazing Race. We have to. Let’s do The Amazing Race.” I’m like, “I am so fully in.” We got really excited about it, and then we called our respective agents and managers, and they were like, “There’s no way you guys are doing that.” That is, maybe to this day, the biggest regret of my whole career — that I never did The Amazing Race with Val. I think we would’ve gotten out very quickly, but it just would’ve been the experience of a lifetime.
It’s genuinely impossible to overstate how incredible that would have been. It’s almost unimaginable to picture Val Kilmer and Will Forte on The Amazing Race together. But it’s not impossible. Especially not if you read Forte’s entire paean to his late friend, a strange, wonderful, warm person full of delight and surprises.
