After more than a decade with Marvel, Robert Downey Jr. is calling “Oppenheimer” his career-best film.
During the “Oppenheimer” U.K. premiere, Downey described the Christopher Nolan period piece as his “best film” to date.
“Just going to flat out say it: This is the best film I’ve ever been in,” the “Iron Man” star said, “and I cannot wait for you all to experience it.”
Notably, after walking the red carpet outside the ODEON Luxe Leicester Square theater in London, the cast left the “Oppenheimer” premiere before the movie began screening due to the official announcement of the SAG-AFTRA strike, which bars SAG actors from participating in any promotional activities.
Downey recently told The New York Times that he was “a hundred percent” concerned about acting outside of the MCU. “You start to wonder if a muscle you have hasn’t atrophied,” Downey said. Downey further credited 2020 flop “Dolittle” for teaching him an important lesson about “hastily” taking on projects.
In “Oppenheimer,” Downey portrays Lewis Strauss, the former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, who worked with J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy. Strauss is teased as one of the antagonists of the film, which in part drew Downey to the role.
“At this point, you’re not doing it for the money,” Downey said of joining the film. “Were you ever doing it for the money once your baseline needs were met? Probably not. Did you think it was about money and prestige? Probably from the time I was a teenager until that illusion dissolved in front of me, leaving me in a depressive state. But then there’s the why: I don’t know why I can relate to Lewis Strauss so much, but I felt like I was meant to play this role, and I knew I’d be in capable hands. ‘Oppenheimer’ has been a bit of a demarcation line for me.”
He added, “I knew there was a point where Chris Nolan was endorsing, let’s work those other muscles, but let’s do it while rendering you devoid of your usual go-to things.”
Similarly, director Nolan revealed to The Los Angeles Times that Downey’s performance in “Oppenheimer” is “completely different” from his past roles, harkening most back to Downey’s transformative role in 1992 Charlie Chaplin biopic “Chaplin” for which he was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor.
“He’s one of our great actors, and though a generation of kids know what a great movie star he is, they’ve not seen his subtlety and brilliance,” Nolan said. “I wanted to get him to do something completely different, to lose himself in another human being. When was the last time we’ve seen that? ‘Chaplin’? Directors are very aware of how talented Downey is, but because of his incredible energy that can punch through the screen, finding the right thing for him is difficult.”
For all the details on “Oppenheimer,” click here.
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