Robert Downey Jr: independent movies are 'exhausting and sometimes suck'
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Version 0 of 1. After walking out of an interview in the UK, then calling the journalist a “bottom-feeding muckraker” the following week, Robert Downey Jr’s promotional tour for Avengers: Age of Ultron has made headlines around the world. Having made his views on journalists clear, the actor has now taken aim at another group – indie film-makers. When asked by Entertainment Weekly Radio whether he ever felt like making “a $500,000 budget indie movie” after finishing work on a blockbuster, the actor’s response was unambiguous. “No,” said Downey Jr. “Because they’re exhausting and sometimes they suck and then you just go, ‘What was I thinking?’ “But I’m interested in doing all different kinds of movies. Sometimes the little movies are the ones that wind up taking the most out of you because they’re like, ‘Hey, man, we’re just running a couple of days behind. Do you think you can stay through your birthday and then come back on the fourth of July? And, by the way, like the crew – can you pay for the craft services?’” Craft services are snacks provided on film or TV sets between main meals. Warming to his theme, Downey added: “‘And, oh, by the way, man, when we go to Sundance, it’s like, can we just sit you in a chair and you can sell this for six days in a row so that we’ll make 180 bucks when it opens in one theater? God, this is so powerful what we’re doing. What do you think of the movie? You saw it last night?’” “I thought it’s mediocre.” “‘Yeah, isn’t it the greatest? Man, everyone’s an artist here.’” “Actually, most of you are kind of inexperienced and lame.” Downey has indicated that he has little patience with the snobbery of the arthouse world. Responding to Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s claim that superhero films amounted to “cultural genocide” Downey said: “I respect the heck out of him and I think for a man whose native tongue is Spanish to be able to put together a phrase like cultural genocide just speaks to how bright he is.” |