Christopher Nolan says Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Iron Man’ is “one of the greatest casting decisions”
Actor Robert Downey Jr has previously expressed his wonder at whether he ought to have taken on his famous role in Iron Man, but his Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan believes it was a casting masterstroke.
In fact, Nolan believes that casting Downey Jr in the famous Marvel movies was one of the “greatest casting decisions” in the history of movies. It was a choice that was made by the actor John Favreau, who directed the first Iron Man.
In a new interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Nolan told the host Josh Horowitz, “When Favreau had the insight to cast him as Iron Man, it’s one of the greatest casting decisions in the history of movies.”
The director continued, “You look at what that did and where that went with everything. I think that was Jon just knowing what an incredible actor, what an incredible potential that was from Downey.”
Downey had previously wondered whether by doing Iron Man it would bring about a degradation of his proper acting talents. He told The New York Times, “You start to wonder if a muscle you have hasn’t atrophied.”
However, Nolan certainly does not feel that way. He added in the podcast, “It’s really cool to see somebody who’s achieved so much greatness as a movie star, then pivot completely and stretch themselves in a way that a lot of people haven’t seen him do.”
Meanwhile, Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy recently said of his experience working with Nolan: “He’s amazing with actors; he’s incredibly brilliant visually. He writes the things himself, and they’re made for the theatre,” Murphy continued, “They’re event movies, but they challenge you. I love the way he presupposes a level of intelligence in the audience. He knows the audience aren’t dummies. He knows the audience can keep up. He knows the audiences want to be provoked and challenged.”
Oppenheimer releases in cinemas on July 21st.
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