Dolittle star Downey acted for his animals
HOLLYWOOD star Robert Downey Jr rehearsed every line for his forthcoming fantasy film about Dr Dolittle in front of a live audience… of farm animals and pets.
The Iron Man actor, who has adopted awelsh accent for the role, said the creatures helped him get into character for Dolittle, which opens in UK cinemas next month.
He repeated his dialogue to an exotic menagerie that included kunekune pigs, Belted Galloway cows, pygmy goats, chickens and two cats named Montgomery and D’artagnan.
Astonishingly, all the creatures live on Downey’s £3million estate in Malibu, California, where he, wife Susan and their son Exton, seven, and daughter Avri, five, keep dozens of rescue animals.
The actor, 54, said: “We’re completely surrounded by them.”
As well as his captive audience, he also needed tuition from a voice coach to master thewelsh accent.
Downey said: “It’s the hardest accent on earth,” adding that his previous experience of playing British characters such as Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chaplin offered “zero help”. While the new movie is born from the classic 1920s book series by Hugh Lofting, Downey based his Dr John Dolittle on a 19th century Welsh physician namedwilliam Price.
He was a “very odd character, into a neo-druidic movement that promoted connection between all creatures,” added the actor.
In the film, Dolitttle is called in when Queen Victoria falls gravely ill and no one else can find a cure.
Ironically, Downey’s unusual “home theatre” rehearsals in front of his menagerie are the only encounters he had with real-life animals.all the creatures in the film, which hits cinemas on February 7, are computer-generated.
They are voiced by stars including Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer, John Cena, Selena Gomez and Tom Holland.