Val Kilmer's daughter Mercedes opens up about his brave acting comeback following tracheotomy

Val Kilmer's daughter is showing her support for actors with disabilities after starring opposite her father in her debut movie, Paydirt.

Mercedes Kilmer, 28, said she found it "challenging" working with her dad on the crime thriller because of his struggles to communicate. The veteran star, 60, underwent a tracheotomy following his throat cancer diagnosis in 2015, and this was his first movie role since the surgery. 

In an interview with Too Fab, 28-year-old Mecedes said she was disappointed because the "narrowness" of her acting training meant she was ill prepared to work with disabled actors like her father. 

"To actually, really comprehend how little training I had working with disabled actors and how appalling that is, it really, as an artist, it challenged me," she told the outlet.

But Mercedes said she was proud of her father and how he handled the shoot given his circumstances.

"My dad has had to circumvent his speech by creatively using his other senses and using other avenues of communication, which is very fascinating as an actor," she said. "I'm also just really proud to have been involved in a film that has a lead actor with a disability. And hopefully it's like heralding a bigger shift in the entertainment industry.

"I think that because he is so well known, it will open more doors for other actors that are less well known that have different abilities to be able to be hired. I think it's really monumentous actually and I'm really, genuinely so proud of having been involved."

In an interview with Good Morning America earlier this week, Val admitted he struggled to deliver his lines while filming Paydirt as controlling his voice was a challenge. As a result, his lines were reportedly dubbed with a voiceover actor.

"It's just like any other language or dialect," he said. "You have to figure out a way to communicate that's no different than any other acting challenge but it's just a very unique set of circumstances."