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Thursday, May 6, 2010
Iron Man, too: All about the Golden Avenger and his star, on the eve of IRON MAN 2
"I've never been in a sequel and it's very daunting because I feel the expectation of the millions of people who watched it and enjoyed it and told me that it was a little different than your usual genre picture and that they expected us to not screw it up. So I actually have taken Iron Man 2 (2010) probably more seriously than any movie I've ever done, which is appropriately ridiculous for Hollywood." 1
(above: A walk down armory lane, courtesy Ian Sokolowski)http://ianthecomicartist.com/ That's Robert Downey Jr. (aka "Bob"), obviously, on his reprised star turn as Tony Stark in IRON MAN 2. My friends around the world, seeing the flick already in Malaysia and Germany, suggest that expectation's well met.
"I know very little about acting" Downey's known to say; "I'm just an incredibly gifted faker." That kind of self-effacement and confidence, simultaneously, fits the Micheleine/ Layton comics version of the character I read so voraciously in adolescence.
"It's one thing to say you're Iron Man, and it's another to actually wear the armor," Downey adds. "The film is almost entirely about character, and yet we still have twice as much action as we did last time, so it's going to be nuts." 2 I can't think of a super hero film where the star felt so right as the lead character. Brilliancy, daring, and just a touch of insanity, Downey fits right into Stark's skin. You may know he started acting in his dad's indie films as a child. Downey studied ballet in England at 10, and during his Greenwich Village teen years, he performed with the Stagedoor Manor troup. 4
His break out role at the end of the Brat Pack Years was the loosely adapted Less Than Zero, a film he says contained "a Ghost of Christmas Future" kind of prophecy in his drug-addicted role that heralded his deeper involvement with risk-taking in the form of heroin. 5
He learned violin and tennis in his spot-on lead in Chaplin, which involved a "dangerous" level of commitment to acrobatic physical comedy.
His glamorized viewpoint on his addictions led to many years of typically brilliant performances mixed with out-of-control social behavior. I was particularly struck by his comments on the place in his spiritual path where he "played Johnny Handgun" in U.S. Marshalls, "the worst action movie ever", as he felt he went to the very edge of what he could do, and live.
Downey worked together on an art piece with the director of the Elton John music video--contemporary artist Sam Taylor Wood, from an art video called "Pietà," made in the manner of Michelangelo's famous Pietà sculpture in Rome. It was included in Sam Taylor Wood's exhibition "Mute" at the White Cube 2 art gallery in London, November 23 to January 12, 2002.
He's a longtime musician as well, singing on many soundtracks as well as a duet with Sting during his supporting role on Ally McBeal. "I'm deep into old Genesis. I'm sorry, but these are songs that mean something to me. "Follow You Follow Me" is a song that's about something to me." 1
With Scarlet Johannsen "completely buff" as the Black Widow, I've very interested in what interpretation of post-Cold War Widow will make the screen. Academy Award winner Don Cheadle may not look Rhodey's part so much as Terrence Howard, but he brings a strong filmography to a much-expanded role.
1 comment:
Superbness all around!
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