Christopher Nolan says he was “a little scared” of Robert Downey Jr. because of stories about how crazy he was

Earlier this month Robert Downey Junior. he revealed that he initially met the director Christopher Nolan for the chance to face Scarecrow Batman begins. This was years before he was cast as Tony Stark in Marvel’s Iron Man. Downey Jr. said Nolan wasn’t interested in casting him, which Nolan fully admitted in a recent interview with the actor for The New York Times. He also explained that he was afraid to meet the actor because of the stories he had heard about how crazy he was. Nolan told Downey Jr.:

“I knew 100% that you weren’t the right guy [for Scarecrow]. In my head it had already been launched. But I always wanted to meet you… I was a big admirer of yours and so selfishly I just wanted to attend the meeting. But I was also a little afraid of you, you know. I had heard all kinds of stories about how crazy you were. It had only been a few years since the last of those stories had come out about you.

Before Downey Jr. was drafted Iron Man, was going through a difficult time in life. The actor was arrested in 1996 for possession of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded gun and was given three years of probation. He was subsequently sent to prison for nearly four months a year later after missing a court-ordered drug test. He also missed an exam in 1999 and was sentenced to three years in prison, of which he served 15 months. Four months later he was arrested after his release for drug possession.

President of Marvel Studios David Maisel and director Jon Favreau had to fight for Downey Jr. to play Iron Man, and Maisel said: “My board of directors thought I was crazy to put the future of the company in the hands of a drug addict. I helped them understand how good he was for the role. We all had faith that he was clean and that he would stay clean.”

Regarding the casting of Downey Jr., Nolan stated that the actor “playing Iron Man is one of the most important casting decisions that has ever been made in the history of the movie business.” He expanded on the topic further in his recent interview, saying:

“The truth is, I think Jon Favreau casting Robert as Tony Stark is one of the most significant and consequential casting decisions in Hollywood history. He ended up defining our industry. Coming out of COVID, you’re like, “Thank God for Marvel movies.” And it’s one of those where, in retrospect, everyone thinks it was obvious. But he took a huge risk [Robert] in that role.”

Nolan went on to talk about casting Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, which earned the actor a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The director said:

“You always try to work with great actors, but you also try to catch them at a point in their life and career where you have something to offer them that they haven’t done before, or haven’t done before.” done for a long time. I just wanted to see this incredible movie star put aside all that baggage, that charisma, and lose himself in the dramatic portrait of a very complicated man. I’ve always wanted to work with him, I really have. Once I stopped being afraid of him.