Robert Downey Jr. fought hard to land the Iron Man role after years of addiction and legal troubles derailed his career. He credits persistence, gratitude, and genuine passion for acting over money as keys to his comeback and success in the Marvel universe.
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The reason that I'm playing Tony Stark, the reason that I'm involved in Iron Man, the reason that I'm so excited is I'm crazy about movies. It's easy to embrace hopelessness when things seem insurmountable. You make more money than any actor in the world. This too shall pass. First of all, I'd like to thank Susan Downey for telling me that Matt Damon was going to win, so don't bother to prepare a speech.
He's an American actor who made his screen debut at the age of 5. He's well known for portraying the role of Iron Man. He has topped the list of Hollywood's highest paid actors, earning over $80 million between 2014 and 2015. He's Robert Downey Jr., and here's my take on his top 10 rules for success. Number 1 is my personal favorite, and make sure to stick around all the way to the end for some special bonus clips.
The reason that I'm playing Tony Stark, the reason that I'm involved in Iron Man, the reason that I'm so excited is I'm crazy about movies. That's why I wanted to become an actor. That's why I could cry watching Chud, Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. I buy into movies. I love it. I see The Fly. I don't care if that's Jeff Goldblum going, you know, I'm like, I'm in it. They're transporting flies dying. I mean, I'm a sucker for this stuff, essentially. And I would say this to anybody, is that, you know, it's really— it's easy to embrace hopelessness when things seem insurmountable. And yet it's actually just a matter of time until all the elements come together for things to be all right. I mean, I believe that, you know, most difficult situations will resolve themselves if you are persistent and if you don't give up entirely. And that's what I never did. I never gave up. Here's a little holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. I just didn't know how to phrase it until now. My name is Tony Stark, and I'm not afraid of you. I know you're a coward, so I've decided that you just died, pal.
Why was it so important to you to get the role of Iron Man? Because you have described it as like a fight. You fought everybody off for that, right?
Uh, just because I had a really good feeling about it. And I think there's things in life with, like, you know, relationships or with life paths or stuff like that. To tell you the truth, I felt like, um, I just felt like it would wind up putting me in a position, um, you know, in this industry, in this business, that, um, that would give me more creative freedom.
Well, it did that.
It did that. You make more money than any actor in the world. This too shall pass. By the way, I don't even know if that's true. I can tell you I pay more taxes than anybody I've ever met. Truth be told is I've never ever been motivated by, uh, money. I, I gotta give it to you, man, because you just seem like such a normal guy. How are you able to— That is my superpower. Talk to my wife. Exactly, that's what it is. Make people believe you're normal. Yeah, absolutely. If you start playing violins, I will tear this joint apart. First of all, I'd like to thank Susan Downey for telling me that Matt Damon was going to win, so don't bother to prepare a speech. That was at about 10 AM. I don't have anybody to thank. I'm sorry, everyone's been so gratuitous. It was a collaboration. We all did this together. Certainly not going to thank Warner Brothers, Alan Horn, and my God, Robin Hoff. These guys, they needed me. Avatar was gonna take us to the cleaners. If they didn't have me, we didn't have a shot, buddy. What am I gonna do? Thank Joel Silver, the guy who's only restarted my career 12 times since I began 25 years ago. I mean, I really don't wanna thank my wife because I could be bussing tables at the Daily Grill right now if not for her. Jesus, what a gig that'd be.
I mean, it's extraordinary. You had gone through a period in your life, and you talk about life stories and life paths. You had 5 years where your career could have taken a completely different turn.
Yeah.
You had the drugs, you had the prison, you had the rehab, and then you pulled it all out of the fire, so to speak. I mean, how did you manage to get from that position to this position?
It's easy to believe that things are gathering momentum and going into a negative place. I mean, I think human nature can tend to be a little bit critical of itself and of its society, and Rather than quantifying good times or bad times or highs or lows, I think it's really just about, you know, we're kind of evolved apes and we think we're a lot smarter than we are. But if we survive whatever life throws at us, you tend to get opportunities. I hope I can inspire other people to find themselves, you know. I'm still in a serious constant state of becoming. I haven't really achieved anything much yet. You know, I'm trying to stay in the moment. That's my biggest problem right now is thinking too far ahead or thinking about the past and not focusing on right now. Morning, Evans. Downey, is that the last donut with red, white, and blue sprinkles? What did I tell you would happen if you ate the last donut with red, white, and blue sprinkles? A little foggy on it, but I think it was something like raining down hellfire. That's right. And here I am without an umbrella. I feel a storm brewing. Oh, hold on. If we don't play that back, I'm canceling the press tour.
Thank you so much for watching. I made this video because Rohit Sharma asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur you want me to profile next, leave it in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of the 10 clips had the biggest impact on you and why, what change you're going to make now after watching this video. Super curious to find out. Leave it in the comments and I will join in the discussion. Finally, I want to give a quick shout out to Aaron Hibbert for buying my book. Thank you, bro. It means a lot to me. For those of you who are buying, make sure you email in your receipts for your chance at a shoutout in a future video. Thank you so much for watching, continue to believe, or whatever your one word is, and I'll see you soon.
I like, you know, seeing a performance that makes me question whether or not I should, you know, turn it in. Or to show you how hard it is to get to some sense of genuine excellence. Yeah, I mean, even, what did they say? Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. Did Joseph Campbell say that, or who was it? I don't know, someone else. Someone really smart said it to me, and now I'm making it seem like I've retained it for years. But yeah, I mean, anytime you get up at 6:10 in the morning and go to work for 4 hours, 14 hours a day or whatever, you know. I mean, it's a labor of love, even if it's, uh, you know, a cheesy sci-fi, you know, holiday picture.
Your character at the center of this film, he's materially super successful, spiritually and emotionally not so much. Bankrupt.
And how does it feel knowing every person you represent is guilty? It's fine. Innocent people can't afford me.
Um, is that on some level a metaphor for contemporary society? I mean, what we're— to a certain extent, what many of us feel?
Well, I know that in Hank's instance, it's that, um, look, I went and I did well. I have these things. I have a Ferrari. I have— everything looks good on the outside, but We like the idea of starting the story where the outside is kind of starting to crack and shimmy, just as this kind of natural crisis occurs. My mom passed away this morning.
Is this the first time your mother passed away, or is this something you do on all the cases you're about to lose?
First time.
Well, do you relate to that idea of the appearance of success but not feeling fulfilled on the inside?
You know what, I can say that Hank is definitely a character that I played. I know that when you have motives to have worldly things, when you attain them, there's an emptiness on the other side. I think that's just a function of spiritual growth, you know? And because I've had such kind of extremes of fortune and misfortune, I kind of have come to appreciate You know, both. But I think in Hank's case—
Meaning you like the material success? You don't mind it?
Meaning that I see how either one of them can be disillusioning. You know, because some folks really love drama, and some folks really love having stuff that puts a wall between them and you, so there's some implied status, you know.
