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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Val Kilmer’s own words point to a commitment to the land as an important reason for building a life on a New Mexico ranch. But the available sources do not establish that he explained the decision in a rare interview with David Letterman. The Letterman segment remains unidentified, so that attribution should be treated as unverified.
What Kilmer said about choosing the ranch
In a conversation with Interview magazine, Kilmer described assembling a New Mexico ranch and tied the choice to his priorities: “What I did was put together this really spectacular ranch in New Mexico, and in many ways I sacrificed the integrity of my career for the integrity of the land.”
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That is the clearest first-person explanation in the available sources. It supports a land-centered interpretation of his decision, but it does not show that land was his only motive, and it was not a statement verified as coming from Letterman’s show.
What is known about where and when he lived there
A Los Angeles Times profile published December 31, 1993 described Kilmer as making his home in the Santa Fe desert. This establishes that he was publicly associated with the area by then; the profile does not give a move date or explain why he chose it.
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A later 2005 Esquire profile offers a fuller picture of the ranch as part of Kilmer’s life, including its landscape and his bison. Esquire described the property as 6,000 acres. That account is useful context for the scale of the ranch, not evidence of when he moved or what he said to Letterman.
Did David Letterman interview him about the move?
The specific Letterman interview implied by the claim has not been identified in the available transcript and archive search. No verified clip or transcript establishes that Kilmer told Letterman why he moved to the desert, and there is no reliable wording to quote from such a segment here. That does not prove the interview never happened; it means the attribution cannot currently be confirmed.
The distinction matters: Kilmer’s ranch and his land-centered explanation are supported by separate sources, while the Letterman connection is not. Until the relevant recording or transcript is identified, the explanation should be attributed to his Interview magazine conversation rather than to Letterman.
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Kilmer’s memoir, I’m Your Huckleberry, is another place to explore his life and career. Its relevance does not verify the Letterman claim.
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