By Jodi Smith | Celebrity | October 7, 2014 |
By Jodi Smith | Celebrity | October 7, 2014 |
Everyone’s favorite Jr. is taking questions from the reddit crowd to promote his new movie The Judge and be cool in general. (It’s Robert Downey Jr., you guys. In case you were thinking Freddy Prinze Jr. or something.)
RDJ talks about Iron Man, being conservative, Sherlock, and a myriad of other things in his AMA.
A) I’d like to spend more time with Elon Musk.
B) Andrew Luck, I got to meet him a few days ago, he seems cool, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts.
Let’s see… so many great new tennis players too…
C) Anderson Cooper.
I’m an okay dancer. I remember attending modern jazz classes in New York when I was a teenager, and instructors stopping the class and asking me if I wouldn’t mind leaving. Correct. I don’t know how smooth I am, but about 25 years ago, while I was prepping for Chaplin, had an amazing education in movement from a variety of experts. Ben Kamen, Johnny Hutch, Lord Attenborough himself…
I’ve been waiting for this question. Garlic. Extra cheese. Onions. Spinach. Pepperoni.
In 2009 Downey conveyed his politically rightward drift to N.Y. Times reporter David Carr. “I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can’t. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics ever since.”
Also the marketing for The Judge is very strange. A couple of months ago, it looked like a serious drama and now more like a legal comedy.
I’ll answer the second question first.
Over the course of lead-up to releasing The Judge, the audiences were telling us that yes, the evocative, dramatic aspects of the film were primarily what was holding their attention, however as our test scores were going higher and higher, much of that was due to the giddy dispersion of moments of laughter and release, situations and characters who behaved in a funny manner. And so Team Downey and the studio decided it was natural to lean into that. At its core, you could call it a drama. It’s a surprisingly humorous movie. In other words, it’s not a bleak nihilistic downer. It’s quite uplifting.
Over the last 10 years, the world has changed, and I’m no exception. What I love about America is that your political views are not fixed by nature. It’s natural that I would see the downside of liberalism while housed in an institution, as it’s not an uncommon occurrence for people to take advantage of a system that caters to its psychological needs. To be pointed, humanity (myself included) is not above manipulating a democratic situation to suit its own selfish short-term goals. I hope that offers an explanation.
It was entirely shot at night. We were pretty giddy most of the time. I saw it last week by chance, and had a flood of fond memories. On the first day of shooting, Val Kilmer (genius) almost choked to death on a piece of catering chicken right before we shot the first scene of the movie. His eyes were still watering until we got to his close up. I’m so happy he’s still with us.
I love running into kids who didn’t expect to see me. I once ran into a four year old who just happened to be wearing a Captain America mask at the time. It seemed natural to him, being that he was Cap, to see some of his friends around. I think I was more excited than him.
For the most part, autograph collectors are pretty cool, and when they’re weird, you just try to forget them.
In order of occurrence: Indio Exton and the daughter we’re having in November.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
It was an offhanded remark to a journalist and friend. I have other projects in mind for Mel and I - sooner than later the Marvel Roster will be made public and all questions will be answered.
Haha!
The Hulk is a slob. Bruce Banner’s etiquette is right out of the Tiffany Book of Table Manners. I remember shooting that shawarma post-credit scene, and having just finished Avengers: Age of Ultron, wondered how we’d beat it. Joss says “The way to win is to not try.”
Let me try.
The first Iron Man was essentially wrapping the character around a cooler version of “me.” As we’ve gone along, I’m starting to wonder who’s playing who, and I’m glad there are so many talented new people in the Marvel lineup. Ultimately, I’m real, and he’s not. It’s kind of important for me to remember that.
I would suggest you read the entire AMA for yourself. RDJ comes off just as charming, charismatic, and affable as ever.