Did Val Kilmer sing in ‘The Prince of Egypt?’ Iconic Moses role revisited in wake of star's passing at 65

Veteran actor Val Kilmer passed away on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at the age of 65. His daughter Mercedes Kilmer told the New York Times that the cause of his death was pneumonia. Mercedes also told the outlet that while her father had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, he had since recovered.

Val Kilmer is best known for playing iconic roles, including Iceman in Top Gun (1986), Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991), and Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993). He is also known for having played the role of the titular superhero of Batman/ Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever (1995).

The actor will also be remembered for voicing the character of Moses in the 1998 animated film, The Prince of Egypt. However, Val Kilmer did not sing in the movie, but two-time Grammy-nominated singer Amick Byram was the one who did.

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More about Val Kilmer’s performance in The Prince of Egypt

Val Kilmer voiced the protagonist Moses as well as God in the musical drama movie, The Prince of Egypt, based on the Book of Exodus. It revolves around the life of Moses as he goes from an Egyptian prince to a prophet chosen by God to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Culture reporter PJ Grisar wrote a tribute to the actor in The Forward on April 2, 2025. In his tribute, Grisar stated that Val Kilmer “imbued his Moses with a sensitive strength, resolute in his challenge to Ralph Fiennes’ Pharaoh.”

While Val Kilmer was credited for voicing the role of Moses, his performance as the voice of God was left uncredited, as per heyalma.com. The latter was for a single scene where Moses came across God near a burning bush.

“You’ve chosen the wrong messenger. How can I even speak to these people?” Moses asks in the scene.

God responds to that asking him who was the one who "made man's mouth, the deaf, the mute, the seeing, [or] the blind."

In his 2020 memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry: A Memoir, Val Kilmer recounted how he got the role of Moses while graduating from Juilliard and was initially skeptical about accepting it. However, the Top Gun actor later went ahead with it but turned down the Christian Science role of Fates.

“Like Moses, I said no. I said I didn’t want the job. In essence, I believe I said no to the Fates because, unlike Moses, I would never pick up the staff. To this day I wonder whether I denied my destiny. Or should I say, I was pretty damn sure I was running away from my destiny,” he wrote.

In his memoir, Val Kilmer also discussed playing Moses two more times after The Prince of Egypt. He said that the second time he played the role was in The Ten Commandments, "a mortifying-at-best live musical." Adam Lambert was also a part of the musical, which was played at the Kodak Theatre. Kilmer noted that he played the role with Lamber and "a bunch of other Broadway kids too talented for the material."

He called this experience, “Monty Python and the Holy Fail.” The third time he played Moses was for the hip-hop gospel by the same name.

In his biography, he claimed his role as Mark Twain in Citizen Twain also reminded him of Moses. This was because the author was a “lonely leader of a tribe looking for hope,” alluding to the genre of satire.

During a December 2004 interview with Christian Science Sentinel, Val Kilmer discussed how Moses embodied the “spirit of humility” something he resonated with.

"The first time I was offered a grand responsibility, I ran away from it. I was terrified of growing up and being responsible. I didn't think I could do it. But Moses accepts the job. Most of us, I think, are given opportunities we end up believing we're not worthy to fulfil," he stated.

He also mentioned that ahead of playing the Man of the Mountain in The Ten Commandments: The Musical, his agents, advisors, and business manager told him he couldn’t “afford” to do it right now. However, he replied that he couldn't "afford not to.”

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Val Kilmer voiced Moses and God in the film, 'The Prince of Egypt.' (Image via X)

Jeff Goldblum voiced the character of Moses’ brother Aaron in the animated adaptation, while Ralph Fiennes gave voice to Pharaoh. Stephen Schwartz wrote the songs and the background score was composed by Hans Zimmer.

Sandra Bullock, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, and Michelle Pfeiffer were other voice artists associated with the project.

The Prince of Egypt was directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells and written by Philip LaZebnik. Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Dreamworks Entertainment produced and distributed the film.

No additional details about the actor's funeral or memorial service were made public at the time of writing this article.