He’s got his Oscar — now Iron Man aims to conquer the stage
...but will Downey Jr stick to his lines?
HE JUST won an Oscar, and is being tipped to scoop an Emmy for his performance in the new TV drama series — The Sympathizer.
And I can reveal that Robert Downey Jr is now hoping to crown his incredible comeback by taking on a Broadway play — and shooting for a Tony.
It’s a shock move, as the 59-year-old hasn’t set foot on stage since the early 1980s, long before he was a star.
He’s one of the best-paid actors in Hollywood, thanks to the Iron Man and Avengers films, and after his performance as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, now confirmed as one of the best.
But Downey Jr clearly still has plenty of ambition left.
As for the production itself, all concerned have been sworn to secrecy.
But I understand that it’s a new play, about artificial intelligence; that rehearsals are due to start in June; and that the actor is even now starting the difficult process of learning his lines.
This may be more of a challenge for him than most, as he is well-known for his fondness for ad libs on film sets.
Only this month, his Iron Man co-star Gwyneth Paltrow told Esquire magazine: ‘There would be this process of Jon [Favreau, the director], Robert and I going into Jon’s trailer in the morning; and Robert being like “I’m not f***ing saying these lines!” And throwing them out, and then live improv-ing, either in the trailer — or on set.
‘In order for something to feel alive for Robert, it has to feel fresh. And he makes it fresh by making it feel like it was just invented. So many of those famous lines were written ten minutes before we said them.’
Similar talk from director Park Chan-Wook, who made The Sympathizer. He recalled: ‘With every setup and every take, Robert improvises dialogue — every single time.’
The show follows a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his subsequent escape to the U.S.
DOWnEy Jr plays five roles, and shaved his head in order to save time in hair and make-up. The first episode was released in the States on Sunday.
The actor first tasted fame in the mid-Eighties, as a member of Hollywood’s ‘Brat Pack’ (hard-partying members included Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez). He was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in 1993 for the film Chaplin, but fell from grace due to drug addiction.
His long path to redemption began in 2003 in The Singing Detective film (co-star Mel Gibson paid his insurance bond). The first Iron Man was in 2008. Other projects have included Guy Ritchie’s two Sherlock Holmes films (there are still hopes of a third).