For many Val Kilmer fans, the onetime matinee idol will always be that shirtless, bronzed god, frozen in mid-air as he spikes a volleyball aimed at Tom Cruise's head. It's hard to reconcile that image with this photo, published in today's London Daily Mirror, of a Stetson-wearing Kilmer taking a leisurely stroll in Malibu, just moments after having unhinged his lower jaw and swallowed a baby sea lion frolicking a few meters from shore. But for one sharp-eyed Defamer reader, this plus-sized, cowboy Val comes as no surprise:

Val Kilmer in the Malibu Starbucks this morning (8/8). He was with a vaguely recognizable, vaguely pretty woman and a young girl. He was also wearing an authentic cowboy hat. I text messaged my girlfriend because she gets all excited about this stuff and she wrote back "Is he fat?" Now that she mentions it, he was looking a little husky....

Kilmer should be credited for being relaxed enough in his own skin to settle into the midriff-ballooning comforts of middle age. Not every former pretty-boy is confident enough to laugh off the cruel points and whispers of summer beachgoers, who barely wait until you're out of earshot to excitedly dial up their friend and announce, "Now I know what Jim Morrison would have looked like if he was still alive. Eeeewwwww!"

• Val Kilmer goes from Batman to fatman [DailyMail.co.uk]

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