“I was not the studio’s dream”: Robert Downey Jr’s first battle against the blacklist
Thanks to Iron Man and Tropic Thunder in 2008, Robert Downey Jr had one of the most shocking comebacks ever, but it wasn’t the first time he had to fight to be taken seriously.
It was after facing serious addiction issues and spending time in prison that he decided to clean up his act and began taking his career seriously once more, committing to working hard to revitalise his image, and although he was considered a liability, his return to form was the type of once-in-a-generation moment that solidifies a movie star.
While superhero films were already popular, Downey became a left-field choice to play Tony Stark in Iron Man, even though it was considered to be a B-list character, where Downey’s charisma, heart, and humour helped create a breakout hit that kick-started the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it is today, and allowed him to reprise the role for over a decade. The same summer, he took on a controversial role in the ensemble Hollywood satire Tropic Thunder, and ended up earning an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for his amazing transformation.
Even though Downey had mentors early on in the industry because of his father’s connections, he faced a rough patch in his career after being fired from Saturday Night Live. Even though he was very passionate about landing the role of Charlie Chaplin in the biopic directed by Richard Attenborough, he knew that there were many in the industry that didn’t want him to get the part.
“I know I was not the studio’s dream to play Chaplin,” he said, “There are five or six people I can think of, without actually naming them, who would have been considered more viable for this role, but I know that I was supposed to play this.”
Downey poured a tremendous amount of effort into working on nailing his role as the iconic movie star, and he found that Attenborough was willing to back him up and offer encouragement.
“I’ve never had anyone back me the way Attenborough did, and I’m so proud that I made the film without having a real nervous breakdown,” he said, while also implying that he shared many of the same experiences with the real Chaplin, adding, “I know that he also had a hand in this, that somehow he and I are connected. You don’t do something like this where his spirit doesn’t check in.”
While Hollywood has become addicted to making lavish biopics about its former stars, Chaplin is a legitimately great film that goes deep into the triumph and trauma of the man who became globally renowned as ‘the Tramp’. It was a truly balanced portrayal, as Downey was able to show how Chaplin had been mistreated and underappreciated in his time.
Chaplin served as proof that Downey was a great actor and had more to offer than being part of the next generation of ‘The Brat Pack’. His performance in Chaplin earned him an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Actor’, and frankly, he should have won; the Oscars chose to give the prize that year to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, which felt like a makeup award because they had not given him any prizes previously. Downey did eventually return to the Oscars after losing again for Tropic Thunder when he won ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for Oppenheimer.
