Val Kilmer returned to the cast of Top Gun 2 and had a brief speech after losing his voice to throat cancer in 2014.
[Atenção: Contém spoilers de Top Gun: Maverick]
To reprise the role of Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in Top Gun: Maverick(2022), Val Kilmer needed the help of more than 40 voice models, selected from artificial intelligence, to be able to speak again in the film. The actor lost the ability to speak after throat cancer in 2014.
the script of Top Gun 2 also put Ice Man in the same condition as Kilmer, losing his voice due to cancer and communicating only by typing. However, the actor has a small line, which was done using artificial intelligence.
According to Forbes (via Variety), Kilmer used the same process used in August 2021, the result of a partnership with Sonantic to create an artificial intelligence that gives him a voice. The actor provided the company with hours of archival footage with the original voice that was used by the company’s algorithms and made into a model.
“In the end, we generated over 40 different voice models and selected the best, highest quality and most expressive one,” he explained. John FlynnCTO and co-founder of Sonantic, in a statement to Forbes. “These new algorithms are now built into our voice engine, so future customers can automatically take advantage of them as well.”
According to the publication, the company cleaned up old audio recordings of Kilmer and used a “voice engine” to teach the model to speak like the actor. This engine had about 10 times less data than a typical project, which was not enough. Therefore, the company decided to create more algorithms that could reproduce a voice model with better quality using the available data.
“I am grateful to the entire team at Sonantic who have masterfully restored my voice in a way I never thought possible. As human beings, the ability to communicate is at the center of our existence and the side effects of throat cancer have made it difficult for others to understand me. The chance to tell my story, in a voice that feels authentic and familiar, is an incredibly special gift.” Kilmer in a statement.
Top Gun: Maverick
sequence of top gun (1986), film features Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Glen Powell and Monica Barbaro in the cast and accompanies Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise) training a new team of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission. Long hit theaters on May 26, 2022. Check out the teaser:
Once a pilot, always a pilot! ✌️
Now as captain of the recruits, Tom Cruise is back in #TopGunMaverickwhich opens on May 26 only in theaters! pic.twitter.com/b286e5yQMv
— Paramount Pictures Brasil (@ParamountBrasil) May 4, 2022
Source: Rollingstone
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