04.21.2009
Article by dsource
RDJ Gives Updates On 'Iron Man 2'
Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub over at Collider was fortunate enough to attend the press day for The Soloist and was able to join a Round Table Discussion with Robert Downey Jr.
He managed to sneak in a few Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes questions and get some great answers from the man himself. Lots of other things were discussed in the time allocated to the group so let’s cut to chase and see what Tony Stark has to say for himself.
This years Comic-Con, are you looking forward to it and is anything special planned?
RDJ: “Goddamn right I am.”
As Steve points out, it was at Comic-Con where Jon Favreau premiered a few minutes of footage and the crowd went absolutely crazy. They proceeded to break the internet as they went to tell their friends and indeed, the world about what they had just seen.
Soo, anything cool planned?
RDJ: “Yes, what do you think?”
That’s all we needed to hear, if you can make it to Comic-Con, make sure you grab a front row seat and let us know what you see!
Is it true that Gary Shandling is playing a Senator? Where does he fit into the story?
RDJ: Day one I’m doing a Senate hearing where the government is saying the Iron Man tech needs to be turned over to the Senator and the Senator is Gary Shandling. And we had this fantastic day that was somehow this controlled chaos of a Senate hearing where I keep interrupting them and dah dah dah.
Tell us about why you are taking Iron Man 2 so seriously and the responsibilities that come with it.
RDJ: And 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” probably more seriously than any movie I’ve ever done, which is appropriately ridiculous for Hollywood.
I’ve added Jon Favreau to my Twitter list and I’m getting some great updates from the set. What does Robert think of his Twittering?
RDJ: Jon is my brother and he is the keeper of the “Iron Man” flame and whatever he wants to do, within reason, to keep his anxieties at bay is absolutely fine with me.
Has the suit been improved from the first film?
RDJ: Everything has been improved. Everything is ergonomic and the story is incredibly risky and artistic for a big genre movie.
In which way risky?
RDJ: The set pieces have to do with things that aren’t your typical like bad guy conflict. The relationships are very complex and hilarious. The motivations Tony has and why he turns around and does things has completely to do with his own internal processes and it really is, I think, as much as we tried to in the first one really see behind the façade of this kind of storytelling. We really, I think, leaving ourselves open to…we’re kind of trying to tell a story about how a dysfunctional family saves life on Earth as we know it.
For this film you have Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell. You have an insane cast.
RDJ: It’s huge.
Could you talk about working with Mickey?
RDJ: I could if we shot together. I’ve seen his stuff and it is literally remarkable. Literally remarkable. He’s so good. And he’s formidable and he’s very much reminding me of that kind of charming, confident guy that we know. Sam Rockwell, on the first day of shooting I was like “if this guy thinks he’s going to be funnier and cooler than me (laughter) and it was a photo-finish. Scarlett Johansson, amazing. Don Cheadle is just rocking it.
On how does his career feel nowadays with the “Iron Man 2” shooting and “The Soloist” coming out…
RDJ: And “Sherlock” in the can. Don’t even get me started on “Sherlock Holmes”. I might have a double-franchise by three days after Christmas.
Robert was asked about how he prepares for his roles and does he consume himself. He gave a pretty long answer and he also might have told Steve and the table the running time for “Sherlock Holmes”.
RDJ: And then I went and did “Sherlock Holmes” which was technically really difficult and period, but I am kicking ass for 2-1/2 hours and all this stuff I’ve been learning for five years suddenly I’m like co-choreographing with these veteran stunt guys and bad-asses. And I’m in there having this just meat eating, man slaughtering competition with these guys and then at the same time playing a very reserved Brit and that to me was a massive education.
Two and a half hours? Sounds good to me! Even if it comes in under that, Holmes is one film I’m really looking forward to. Steve will be posting the entire transcript later in the week so keep an eye out for it and what else RDJ has to say!
