Val Kilmer met Joanne Whalley on the set of the 1988 fantasy film Willow , though their first encounter actually happened two years earlier at a London theater after-party.
The First Glimpse: London, 1985
Before they ever shared a screen, Kilmer saw Whalley perform in a West End play in 1985 and was instantly captivated. He followed her to an after-party that night but, unusually for the confident heartthrob, left the pub without speaking to her. Kilmer later told The New York Times he'd had a prophetic dream days before meeting her that he would marry the woman he saw, prompting him to write a poem titled "We've Just Met but Marry Me Please."
Reunion on Set: Willow (1987)
Fate brought them together properly in 1987 when Whalley, who had moved to Los Angeles for her first American leading role, was cast alongside Kilmer in George Lucas and Ron Howard's Willow. In the film, Whalley played Sorsha, a princess who falls for Kilmer's roguish swordsman Madmartigan-after he unwittingly drinks a love potion. Their on-screen chemistry quickly translated off-screen, and they began dating shortly after meeting on set.
Whirlwind Romance and Marriage
The relationship moved fast. By early 1988, Kilmer was courting Whalley with Shakespeare quotes and midnight guitar serenades. They married in a private ceremony in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in March 1988, the same year Willow premiered. Whalley relocated to Los Angeles and officially changed her surname to Whalley-Kilmer.
The couple had two children: daughter Mercedes, born in 1991, and son Jack, born in 1995. They appeared together in several projects beyond Willow , including Kill Me Again (1993), Played (2006), and Twixt (2011).
The Split
Despite the early romance, the marriage faced turbulence. Whalley filed for divorce in July 1995, citing irreconcilable differences. Kilmer reportedly learned of the filing while watching CNN in a hotel room in the Virgin Islands during the filming of The Island of Dr. Moreau -a detail he later described as brutal. The divorce was finalized in February 1996.
Even after the split, they maintained a co-parenting relationship and reunited publicly in 2017 when Kilmer discussed his health struggles.