lucid magazine april 2008 (la)

8/14/2019 LUCID Magazine April 2008 (LA)

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L o s A n g e l e s


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[ master of the house ]

by Fred TopelPhotos by Zade RosenthalCourtesy of Paramount Pictures

22PAGE. 2008 Preview Issue


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there are ew actors as charismatic in

their sel-destructive ways as Robert

Downey Jr. His trademark wound-up,

dicey, real and raw personality has

made him a most beloved Hollywood

lead man today, despite his ongoing

drug-addiction battles. Five yearsago, Downey was the go-to punch line in any

late-night joke about celebrity rehab. There was

a point when the actor couldnt even get insured

or major lm productions. But to everyones

great relie, these days hes shaking things up on

solid ground.

Currently, the clean and insured 43-year-old is

still proving his incomparable talents on movie

sets as the star o this months Iron Man. Downey

is an unusual casting choice or Tony Stark the

billionaire weapons magnate who becomes Iron

Man and stays alive with a chest plate that keepshis heart beating. Marvel launches the eature

lm with plenty o pyrotechnics to please the

eye, as well as a fying metal hero that can blast

any villain. The production harkens back to the

days o actors honing their crats, and studios, in

this case Marvel Productions, in charge o their

own work.

I remember the original Superman and Brando

was in it, Downey says. I thought, wow, these

things must be getting legit!I was already, I guess,

airly opinionated when I was seven.

Acclaimed or his work in prestige lms like

Chaplin and intense character dramas like Less

Than Zero, Downey proves that quirky, high-

caliber actors make comic book lms stand out.

All my riends are doing it, jokes Downey. With

my buddies, when you want to do stu, they say,

Youre doing what, man? Shaggy Dog? No ones

given me any gu about Iron Man.

The actor grabbed hold o his character with his

typical gusto and sharpened Tony Stark with hisDowney edge. Near the end o an exhausting

day on the set o Iron Man, director Jon Favreau

needed Downey to walk through the Stark home

and check his messages. Even in a brie shot to

simply orward the plot, Downey had new lines

he wanted to try; dierent reactions to various

well-wishers leaving voicemails. This was the

way it went throughout the entire production.

I come in every day and say, Ive seen this in a

movie beore. No oense, but i we do [it this

way], I havent seen that, explains Downey.Some o my [ideas] are so ar out they go, Will

you just go put on your chest piece? I eel the

onus and the responsibility to not venture into

this genre without an understanding that just

because it happens to have this two-dimensional

aspect to it in its origins, doesnt mean that it

doesnt go deep and it shouldnt be an art orm. I

think audiences are continually underestimated.

At the same time, I can go see a pretty crappy

movie and love it, i its got a couple o things

that work. Im like a soccer coach with kids that

probably shouldnt be playing soccer.

Back on the set, Favreau looked tired as he

entered to discuss the scene with Downey. The

Stark mansion was paved with brown marble

that squeaked as Downey walked across it. The

marble was actually just rubber, hence the

squeaking. Later, Favreau said he appreciates the

collaboration, as he called it.

I think theres something incredible to be

discovered in the moment, especially when

you have actors like Robert who understand it

and have been around and see themselves as

shepherds o their roles, said Favreau. He knows

more about their character than the lmmaker

does, because thats the kind o actor I hired.

The two would oten have discussions that

continued late into the night, or theyd show up

early on the set and lock themselves in the trailer

to talk about their ideas or the lm.

In casting Robert, you have a much dierent

version o this movie than you would i you

have somebody else younger, less unny, less

spontaneous, less charismatic, says Favreau.

With him as Tony Stark, we knew we could

hit the humor hard. We knew we could test

the boundaries o likeability because hes

so charming that you could really get to the

personality Tony Stark has in the books.

Some o Downeys ideas actually requireda complete re-haul o the set. In one scene,

Stark gives a press conerence to a room ull o

reporters. Downey wanted the reporters to sit

down, when lights were set up or everyone at

standing height.

Im not coming in going, This is all wrong!

Relight! explains Downey. But I will come in and

say, Given the time we have, we can probably

get this many shots. Jons been very fexible and

very un.

Changing a lm set seems like a relativelywholesome instinct or someone with more

unruly habits, such as violating probations and

requently regressing into drug addiction. Even

during his younger, more careless days, Downey

was able to channel his wild energies into artistic

pursuits.

I remember the days oLess than Zero or Chaplin

where I would throw mysel into this tizzy o

prep or 16 hours, Downey recalls. The same

makeup gal doing this did Less Than Zero, and

she was blowing menthol in my eyes, puttinglatex on my lips I was doing push-ups beore

the scenes and my heart was racing orever.

Real lie or Downey has been the stu o past

Hollywood movies: An emerging talent in the

80s, quickly swept up in the ast liestyle o drugs,

building credibility only to relapse several times.

Back in 2003, he actually thought hed given his

last interview on rehab. His team o publicists

said that rom then on, he could just claim hes

already covered it. Five years later, now acting

the part o a comic book character who has

turned to the bottle, he taunts me when I try tosugarcoat the question hes learned to expect.

Im like a soccer coach withkids that probably shouldnt beplaying soccer.



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[ master of the house ] continued article



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[ master of the house]

Just bring it, dude.

Okay, Robert, since youve been through addiction problems,

could you relate more to Tony Stark?

I think when someone has had a undamental change and

theyre not just trying to backpedal; by the time youve seen

the light; by the time you get out o Dodge and start doing the

right thing, you really dont relate to the person that h istorically

people still say [you are], Downey says.

Its always kind o an inside game, and I orget that occasionally,

but they keep writing the shit, Downey continues. Its that

thing, like lie is 85% maintenance, and you realize at

the end o your day that you spent most o the day just

making sure that other peoples energy and all your own

mindtalk wasnt ruining it. Like the day plans to be good,

and then you come in like CRASH CRASH CRASH trying to

VROOM VROOM VROOM.

Interviewing Downey is always un because hell go o on

tangents more interesting than the original question anyway.

This topic somehow veers o to people with worse reputations

than Downey.

Its like the guy who says, I you Google me, all youre ever

going to see is that I was accused o raping those two kids on

a boat, or whatever, he says. Its like, why am I Googling you

anyway?Thats a really nice headspace.

Wait a minute. This isnt an attempt to evade the real question,

is it?

No, Downey eventually gets to the real story.

Well, they say the bigger the setback, the bigger the comeback.

I wouldnt necessarily recommend that people take that to

heart, Downey says. Its kind o one o those agnostic journeys.

I dont want to be a Joseph Campbell chapter, but most

everyones lie is one mythology or another. I guess thats why

its there, to let you know those stories mean something. I took

some hits mostly in my own making, but everyone transorms.

Some o its just a unction o age. Im not in my twenties. Im

not in my thirties.

Even during the dark times, Downey still cared about his crat.

It just took some growing up to teach him that he couldnt have

it both ways. He couldnt be an Oscar-nominated actor andget

arrested or possession o narcotics.

It never occurred to me, particularly ater I did Chaplin, that

there was this 18-month window where I wasnt supposed to

smoke bowls and watch the History Channel, Downey says. I

was supposed to plan the next big thing. I guess it was that

thing, too, o the narcissism o wanting to act like it wasnt that

important to me and I didnt care, and also having the tendency

to like to check out and anesthetize mysel. Between the two o

those, its like youre not fring on all cylinders and its not that

kind o party. Its not a rat race, its a road rally or sure.

Working his way back into Hollywoods good graces was

a gradual process. Downey had to successully complete

independent flms like Two Girls and a Guy, and later, The Singing

Detective, to prove he wasnt an insurance risk. For a while, the

actors lie was choppy, and Hollywood always weighs its risks

against the potential rewards o hiring an actor.

I just think theres an understanding, Downey says. Its like

i you want a French-speaking actor who you think is right

to do your flm, you understand that there will be certain

communicative necessities, or whatever. Its really just an

equation. I can think o two people ohand who it never got

as public as it was with me, and ater a certain amount o

time, [proved] the most stable people are the people who are

committedly not unpredictable anymore.

New Hollywood has shown not only its orgiveness in hiring

Downey or a big budget ranchise, but its aith, signing him

to two sequels. This could see Downey playing Iron Man until

another generation o Hollywood takes over.

We wrapped this and Im on to the next thing, Downey says.

Im in great shape and I have tons o energy and I have more

gratitude than I can even bear to express. You could say thats

because I have something to weigh it against, or you could say

its because Im a grateul guy nowadays.

And or that, were all thankul.

continued article

They say the bigger the setback, the

bigger the comeback. I wouldnt

necessarily recommend that people

take that to heart.



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