Robert Downey Jr. : The Father of the Man

JT: Your humor and charm easily blind people to the rage that's mingled with your intelligence. Pouting is much more obvious to a director who's on watch for a patricidal actor. And all directors, no matter what they profess, are on watch.

RD: They love strangling actors. I have to say, when I direct films myself it'll be hard for me to be as flexible, selfless and attentive as you have to be. The film is a kid that doesn't talk, and you've always gotta be looking for the surprises. William Goldman said that the director's there to help everybody, and I thought, "Horseshit!" But that's exactly what the directors I've enjoyed working with have done. They let you go to the banquet and eat with your hands first while standing in line.

JT: For you, particularly, more than most other actors, I think it's harmful to work when you're not excited or when you are too angry.

RD: I have a perhaps paranoid suspicion that many people in power in this industry like to see other people do things that are beneath them, and do it with a smile. I always want to explain it as my own fears dumped on the imagined ill will of others, but I think it's true. I really do. And I think that if there's anything that gets me down it's that there are no champions of the artist today. I don't see any evidence of people just going on faith. Sometimes the attitude is, "Why should you be allowed to do anything you want? You're a cocksucker. And if you aren't one yet, you should be and you will be."

JT: So, is the wave of independent moviemaking you described as personal vision really there, or is it just a hustle?

RD: It's a transitional time, pre-revolutionary. And even if I consciously knew what the nature of the revolution was--which I don't--it would not be a good idea to say it.

JT: Do you feel that you're still working when you're between movies, that there's a kind of continuum and that all your life is part of your art?

RD: Usually I feel like movies are interrupting what I'm trying to get off the ground creatively. [Laughs]

JT: I hope you don't include our movie in that slur.

RD: No, this was a quick stint and totally different.

JT: A brief interruption in your journey.

RD: A minor affront to my primary purpose. [Laughs] I'm not big on planning ahead but I've been developing stuff for 10 years, and there's been music all along. So I'm never really taking a break. And there's my family now, and loving them has changed everything. I'd be really happy if I could do a bunch of films and then realize these dreams of mine. The order would be: family, dreams and then jobs.

JT: Do you think directors and writers and actors are so mindful of their next job that they incorporate Hollywood's expectations almost unconsciously?

RD: Absolutely. It's the rule rather than the exception.

JT: Have you ever been aware of doing that?

RD: No. As a matter of fact, I think that's part of the reason I have not advanced as quickly or as far as I would like. I don't have any 10-year plan. And I don't like the idea of being relentless, which I must be in order to attain my goals. I guess I came to believe I wasn't going to be in one of those monster hits and that, therefore, I wasn't going to make that transition into being a real big deal.

JT: Why would you want to be a real big deal?

RD: To make things easier.

JT: Does that mean doing big-budget movies and getting paid a lot?

RD: Well, I don't think that just because you're doing a film where luxury is provided that means it's not going to be something great and original and uncompromising. And just because you're doing a film that's coming from the "right place" doesn't mean it's not going to suck.

JT: I wouldn't argue either point.

RD: It usually gets endlessly mixed up. I did Air America for two reasons: to be in a movie with Mel Gibson, and to make a bunch of money. And then underneath was the hope that in doing this formulaic thing I would be launched into a whole new realm of opportunity to do A-list movies. By the time we were done, the only positive thing was meeting Mel Gibson.

JT: It's odd that with you and him together and with a talented director like Roger

Spottiswoode, Air America didn't turn out better than it did.

RD: It was complicated. A lot went down. Good intentions, sad result.

JT: So the problem is that in a movie of that size and expense, all kinds of muddle can take place.

RD: Right. And for me, the lesson was that sketchy motives result in nightmares.

JT: Give me an example of a movie that was expensive where you had a great experience.

RD: Natural Born Killers. I had never been in a situation where there was more than enough money to do whatever the director wanted. It was very experimental in a lot of ways, and it was just really fun.

JT: Oliver Stone is an exception, and that movie was an exception in every way. How much money do you need?

RD: After I did Restoration I learned a valuable lesson, which is: sometimes folks are dead-on when they say they can't afford to do a movie. They are actually in touch with how much they are spending and how much they have to make in order to continue spending the way they'd like to without getting in trouble with the basics.

JT: I've always felt that when your house becomes more important than your work the time has come to switch professions to interior decoration.

RD: That's honorable. But it's not my experience.

JT: What happens when you come upon something that eats at you and makes you feel: either I make this or I go insane?

RD: Well, I wasn't worried about whether I was going to go insane, I was very well aware that I was insane. And I found great solace in material possessions, in "the finer things in life." And more than anything else, I felt I had to provide for those I'm responsible for.

JT: Well, that's honorable, but it's not my experience.

RD: There is only so much value in being smart with money. But there is great instant gratification to be had in spending it as fast as you make it. You literally say, "I went to the set, we rehearsed the master, we shot 11 takes, I went back to the trailer, it started to rain, and I earned enough to buy this 740 IL." I want to be able to break down the day-by-day schedule and go out and see exactly how much I earned today--in a different shape than that of a production company check.

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