The movie that horrified Robert Downey Jr’s mother: “I have a bad feeling about this”
Robert Downey Jr. was born to be a star. Not only is he insanely talented, charismatic, and in possession of a great head for business, but he is also a second-generation actor. His father, Robert Downey Sr, was known for starring in and directing a number of low-budget movies in the 1960s. These include Chafed Elbows, a still image film; Putney Swope, a satire of Hollywood race relations; and Pound, which features the acting debut of his then-5-year-old son.
Though his dad is much more well known – a fact that arguably helped his son with his own career – Downey’s mother also has her claims to fame, Elsie Downey was a model who regularly appeared in her husband’s work. When the couple divorced in 1977, their 12-year-old son went to live with Elsie to help her cope. This undoubtedly brought them closer together, to the point where she felt comfortable enough to give him advice about his own career later in life.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, the Iron Man star revealed what Elsie had told him when she found out he was going to be playing a part that required blackface makeup in Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder. “My mother was horrified,” he said (via The Independent). “‘Bobby, I’m telling ya, I have a bad feeling about this.’ I was like, ‘Yeah me too, mom.’”
In the movie, which sees a group of actors making a war movie accidentally caught up in a genuine armed struggle, Downey plays Kirk Lazarus, an Australian actor known for his deep commitment to any role. He plays Staff Sergeant Lincoln Osiris in the fictional meta-movie, a job for which he undergoes ‘pigmentation alteration’ to give himself the appearance of an African-American man. Lazarus presents himself as an over-the-top spoof of genuine Black culture, drawing ire from his co-stars of all races. The whole thing is done to make his character look stupid, but given the charged history of White actors ‘blacking up’, you can understand why Downey’s mother was worried for her son’s image.
“I started thinking, ‘This is a terrible idea, wait a minute,’” Downey confessed. “Then I thought, ‘Well hold on dude, get real here, where is your heart? My heart is… I get to be black for a summer in my mind, so there’s something in it for me. The other thing is, I get to hold up to nature the insane self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think they’re allowed to do on occasion, just my opinion.” He then justified the decisions by saying, “90 percent of my black friends were like, ‘Dude, that was great,’” which is the one thing you wouldn’t say when trying to defend something like this.
Tropic Thunder both did and didn’t pay off for Downey. He was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ at the Oscars for his performance, but public opinion continues to be divided over whether or not he should have taken the gig. Given how high-profile he would become off the back of the MCU, it’s incredible that his career wasn’t halted by it more.
Whilst he ultimately went against her advice, the fact that Downey considered his mother’s views on Tropic Thunder shows how strong their bond was. When Elsie died in 2014, he reflected on their often turbulent relationship, writing: “If anyone out there has a mother and she’s not perfect, please call her and say you love her anyway.”
