Sunday, April 29, 2007

Downey sure has a lot to say about Tony Stark

With production now under way on Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. is fully immersed in the world of the Armored Avenger and has come to believe that the character is more human than his fellow superheroes.

Right: The 1st official still of Downey as Stark

"He's a superhero who is just a man," Downey said about billionaire industrialist Tony Stark. "Not that I wouldn't play a guy who got bit by a spider or who has some freaky connection with bats, but I think this is a little more accessible.

"I guess that when Stan Lee created the character back in the mid-1960s -- to see if he could base a superhero on a hard-partying, womanizing billionaire who manufactures weapons, and still make him likeable enough to sell comic books -- he clearly won his bet. Tony Stark is someone who has the ability to be right at the forefront of science and we are finding out more and more nowadays that science and mythology are becoming somewhat interchangeable. Some of the things that seemed really far-fetched aren't any more."

The Oscar-nominated actor believes Stark symbolizes nothing less than the United States itself. "I see him as the best and occasionally worst in Americans and citizens around the world. He's a brilliant guy, an inventor who can't totally separate himself from the repercussions of the weapons he builds. There's a real sense of honor and I know a thing or two about honor."

For Downey, Stark is first and foremost a fallible human being. "He struggles with his lifestyle, he struggles with the drinking. He faces the same issues a lot of people do." No stranger to dealing with issues, Downey is grateful to Iron Man director Jon Favreau for casting him in such a big movie. "I want to show Jon he was right to have faith in me. Whatever questions might have arisen about my life weren't issues with him."

Sources: IGN, AICN, Rotton Tomatoes

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