No matter how far removed an actor is from a superhero role, they can’t ever escape it. However, Robert Downey Jr. says he isn’t like Tony Stark in real life.
When Downey Jr. signed on to play Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first film, it was a gamble for both the actor and the studio. The star had dealt with some trouble after starring in films like Weird Science and Chaplin, and the MCU was a chance for him to shoot himself back into the spotlight. Of course, it ended up working out, as Downey Jr. became the face of the world’s most popular franchise.
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Sadly, after many years and many movies, Downey Jr. stepped out of the suit after his character’s death in Avengers: Endgame. It was clearly time for a new chapter in his life, and he’s taken the opportunity and ran with it, including starring in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and receiving plenty of Oscar buzz. However, that hasn’t stopped fans and the industry at large from still only associating him with the hero he portrayed.
“I ain’t him, I’ll tell you that flat out,” he told Vanity Fair on the set of Avengers: Endgame. “There’s always a bit of a burn-off period when they run out of call sheets for me in any of these movies, and I go back to being a little bit more of just…I’m just a fu**ing actor. I’m just a guy – who does have a very interesting past, who does not regret it, who wished to shut the door on it. I think that that translates.”
Downey Jr.’s role as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer is a far cry from Tony Stark, and based on those comments, it’s likely fans will continue to see the actor in roles similar to that one, even as they clamor for him to return for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or Secret Wars.
