The two kinds of scenes Robert Downey Jr hates shooting: “I’m not actually all that good”
It feels like after a couple of decades where Robert Downey Jr was absolutely everywhere, things have gone a bit quiet, but there’s a reason for that: he is knee-deep in the Avengers, or more specifically, filming his new, somewhat controversial role as Dr Doom in Avengers: Doomsday.
Has there ever been quite as big a character switch in movies as going from one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s leading heroes to one of its most dramatic villains? Tough to say, but there can’t be many to rival it. One thing is for sure, Downey Jr is making the most out of the rumour and conjecture swirling around the movie by hyping it up with teasers on his Instagram page.
Who knows how the Russo brothers, who are directing the fifth Avengers movie, are going to tie Victor Von Doom in with Iron Man in the end, but the frustrating fact is there’s still over a year to wait until we get to find out, so prepare yourself for twelve months of tantalising titbits coming out from seemingly ‘literally every major actor in Hollywood’ who are on the cast.
It can be counted on, however, that Downey Jr is going to make his latest superhero venture a memorable one, because he has a long track record of truly fantastic performances across almost every genre of film imaginable. While the MCU has certainly taken up the majority of his time since the first Iron Man movie back in 2008, it could be argued that he is actually at the peak of his powers; anyone who saw him in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 2023 will attest to that.
He won the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award at the Oscars for that role as Lewis Strauss, the high-ranking naval officer and head of the US Atomic Energy Committee and almost stole the film entirely. In fact, had it not been for Cillian Murphy and Nolan’s astonishing visuals, he might have been the highlight of the movie.
Given Downey Jr’s range of acting, going all the way back to ‘80s Brat Pack comedies, through to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and David Fincher’s superb Zodiac from 2007, it’s perhaps a little surprising that there are still certain kinds of scenes he doesn’t like playing.
He prefaced his revelations to chat show host Jimmy Fallon by talking about his own acting and saying: “My dirty little secret is I’m actually not all that good.”
Pressed as to why that might be, he clarified by adding, “I hate opening doors. Opening doors, pretending you’re surprised to see somebody that has been standing on the other side of the door.”
Downey Jr didn’t limit his acting grievances to door opening, however, as there’s another type of scene that grinds his gears, namely having to pretend to drive a car while having his actions directed to him, like checking mirrors. “I hate it,” he added.
Aside from next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, there’s also the second instalment in the epic franchise, Secret Wars, which will again feature RDJ and will be released in 2027. Before that, though, we’ll see him head back to 22b Baker St in the long-awaited third Sherlock Holmes movie, and he’s completed filming on a Jamie Foxx-directed basketball movie called All-Star Weekend, with a cast including Jeremy Piven, Eva Longoria and Benicio del Toro.
