Robert Downey Jr. feared that his reputation could be “destroyed” when he signed up for Tropic Thunder, he has revealed.
Tropic Thunder sees Downey Jr. portraying a method actor who dyes his skin dark to play an African-American character.
The actor has admitted that he was initially concerned about the movie’s sensitive subject matter, but his fears disappeared soon after he joined co-stars Ben Stiller and Jack Black in rehearsals.
“I felt like, ‘I want to work with Ben and Jack, but my way into the movie is I’ve got to be tarred and feathered for three months and maybe have my reputation destroyed.’ That was my fear,” Downey Jr. explained.
“Then we started doing make-up tests, and it was like Mr. Potato Face: ‘Can we take that wig off and put these teeth in? Now put this on. Now put that on.’ But by the time we were finally in rehearsals, I knew I had it.”
Tropic Thunder is currently facing criticism in the US over its repeated use of the word “retard”. Disability-advocacy groups have called for a boycott of the film.
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