In anticipation of next Tuesday’s (9/24) release of IRON MAN 3 on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray Hi-Def & DVD, we present you with an interview with Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle in addition to Q&A interviews with the cast & crew and film clips! Whose superhero suit was heavier? What’s it like to work on an action flick with Gwyneth Paltrow? Find out the answers to these questions and more!
AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT DOWNEY JR. AND DON CHEADLE FOR IRON MAN 3
Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall, alongside Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, Marvel’s Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black. The movie is based on Marvel’s iconic superhero, Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of Tales Of Suspense (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with The Invincible Iron Man (#1) in May of 1968.
With the 3D Super Set and Blu-ray Combo Pack of Iron Man 3 about to be released, we chat to Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle – who play Iron Man/Tony Stark and James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes in the movie – to discover more about the epic superhero project ….
How does Iron Man 3 compare to the first two movies in the superhero franchise?
Don Cheadle: I think Iron Man 3 really pays off on the promise that the first two movies had, and we get to see all of these characters in a much deeper way. We certainly get to see the relationship between Pepper Potts and Tony Stark in a much deeper way. Plus, there are very real things that are happening inside this huge CGI world, which helps to really ground the movie. [The movie’s screenwriters] Shane [Black] and Drew [Pearce] have injected humor, too. These things make the whole experience not just about walking in and watching a bunch of pretend things fly around – but there are real-world things happening. It’s a lot of fun.
We see a lot more of James Rhodes in his superhero suit in Iron Man 3, as well as more examples of his military training. Which scenes did you prefer to work on: the action scenes in the suit or the action scenes without the suit?
Don Cheadle: I prefer being out of the suit. The suit is great and it’s great to be able to achieve all the things that we want to achieve with the CGI and the motion capture – but I had the most fun running around with Robert [Downey Jr.] and us just physically going after it.
War Machine becomes Iron Patriot in Iron Man 3. Which of the two suits do you prefer, Don?
Don Cheadle: Well, the Iron Patriot is about three kilos heavier, so I prefer War Machine. But, you know, this iteration of the film really is something that Robert and I talked about after the second movie. He came to me and said, “Now, let’s try and really kick this relationship off, and really try to see who these guys are.” That’s why a lot of fun for me in this movie involved being able to do a lot of action outside of the suit, and getting to work with the stunt team and doing a lot of the cable work. That was just a big thrill for me. It was like I was a big kid being able to play with the best toys.
When it comes to wearing the superhero suits in Iron Man 3, Gwyneth Paltrow has called the guys wimps because they complain a lot about them ….
Robert Downey Jr.: I admit we’re wimps. In Iron Man 2, Don’s suit was so hard to even pick up to put on him!
How heavy was it exactly?
Don Cheadle: In the second movie, I’d see Robert putting on just the top of his suit but I’d be putting on the whole suit. He said to me, “Yeah, I told them between [Iron Man] One and Two that they really had to make some changes and make the suit a lot more lightweight.” And I was like, “But wait… Mine weights 7,000 pounds! What are you talking about lightweight?”
Gwyneth Paltrow sounds like a rock star for tackling the heavy suit with such ease in Iron Man 3 ….
Robert Downey Jr.: Gwyneth came in and she was having a ball. Her kids were there and she was in rocking shape, so it was all nice and easy. I think she wore the suit once or twice only. Listen, it’s a cumulative issue.
What’s it like to work alongside Gwyneth Paltrow in an action franchise like this?
Robert Downey Jr.: I’ve tried to be some sort of guiding light [on the set of the Iron Man movies]. Every bit as often, I would go to set and Gwyneth would be like, “Oh my God, what are we doing? What is this scene again? Shouldn’t Pepper…” And she always points true north. Jon Favreau [the director of the first two Iron Man movies] said from the first time we cast her, that she’s the heart of the movie – and he’s right.
What went through your mind when you heard that Sir Ben Kingsley was going to join the cast as The Mandarin?
Don Cheadle: We felt like he really classed up the joint, so we were glad to have him there. It was a lot of fun.
How would you describe the relationship between James Rhodes and Tony Stark in Iron Man 3?
Don Cheadle: I feel like you see the relationship has strengthened in this movie, and it pays off on the promise that was made at the end of Iron Man 2 in the Japanese garden where these guys really started busting each other’s chops. They are friends, but they still really help balance one another.
How would you describe your working relationship with each other?
Robert Downey Jr.: This time, I’d be working with Don and he’d say to me, “You know that thing where you say something funny and I say something and then you answer it and we do that?” I go, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He says, “Could we not do that for once?” And I was like, “Oh yeah. Yeah, great idea.” So there was a lot of give and take.
How would you describe your working relationship with Robert, Don?
Don Cheadle: Do you want me to tell you what he paid me to say or say what I feel? No, it was great to come back this time around. [Iron Man 3 director and co-screenplay writer] Shane Black almost coined and really put a stamp on buddy/action movies – and I was clearly in the pocket with Robert. It was great to see the whole movie put together in the end because we were all on such different tracks. I didn’t know what Gwyneth was doing for half of the movie, so it was great to see it all put together and say, “Oh, that’s what you guys were doing over there.”
Exactly how often did you see the rest of the cast?
Don Cheadle: I saw Sir Ben Kingsley twice on set, which is why it would be great for me to have another bite of the apple [in another Marvel movie] and to be able to mix with these guys a little bit more. But all in all, we had a ball. And Robert is a prince, as everyone knows.
Iron Man 3 clips and more interviews.
Clip: Air Force Once Rescue
AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT DOWNEY JR. FOR IRON MAN 3
Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall, alongside Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, Marvel’s Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black. The movie is based on Marvel’s iconic superhero, Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of Tales Of Suspense (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with The Invincible Iron Man (#1) in May of 1968.
With the 3D Super Set and Blu-ray Combo Pack of Iron Man 3 about to be released, we chat to Robert Downey Jr. – who plays Tony Stark/Iron Man in the movie – to discover more about the epic superhero project ….
What was your biggest challenge in tackling Iron Man 3?
I think the big challenge with these movies is the fact that they are only ever as good as their bad guys – but once we cast Sir Ben Kingsley [as The Mandarin], half of our troubles went away. Then, the other half had to do with him executing this very peculiar and awesome arc.
In various interviews for Iron Man 3, Sir Ben Kingsley has admitted that there was no need for him to improvise on set because most of The Mandarin’s personality was already written in the script. Would you agree?
I’d like to counterpoint what Sir Ben said because once we let him off the chain, we found that he was a glorious improviser. Without giving away his character arc, a lot of the ideas came from what was written because [Iron Man 3 screenwriters] Drew Pearce and Shane Black did have a good script. The story was really good. The twists were really good. It was all there already.
Shane Black, who is also the director of Iron Man 3, believes that you live and breathe exactly like Tony Stark. How much of Tony Stark is in you and how much of Robert Downey Jr. is in Tony Stark?
Don Cheadle [who plays James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes] and I have had many conversations about this. When you’re looking at the back nine and you’re not a kid anymore, you start to realize how much you share things with a character like Tony Stark. I’ll never be more like Tony than I was three weeks before we started shooting the first movie. Back then, I was like, “Wow, look at this role I get to play!”
How has your relationship with Tony Stark changed?
The older you get and the more life continues to whittle you down and smash your ego, the less you identify with things that are essentially just metaphors for narcissism or vain glory, or deep-seated fear and all that stuff. As Iron Man has become more real and more ‘out there’ in his own way, I’ve become just moderately more humble and more humanized.
What’s different about Iron Man 3 compared to the earlier movies in the franchise?
This time, I feel that Iron Man 3 – without taking it too seriously – is about transcendence. It’s about this thing that you become identified with. Are you capable of letting go of it because it’s impeding your actual human experience? What is an actual human experience, and who’s been humanizing Tony all along? The nice thing – and the reason I can get onboard with this – is Rhodey must have thought that Tony was not so much of a jerk because he was his buddy all those years before he became Iron Man. Tony has a history with someone who really knows him, and also really knows the ins and outs of what you’re supposed to do in a legitimate military or conflict situation. Then he has someone who also knows the ins and outs of his emotional life. What you achieve is about the human being you become; it’s not about how many toys or how much fame, or how much fear you can instill in your enemies.
In Iron Man 3, Tony Stark works intensively alongside a young character, Harley, for the first time. Were you happy to see this new relationship in the script?
Shane Black had this idea of a Capra-esque departure. We all knew we were taking risks, moving outside of the familiar territory. I think his idea of a superhero running into a little kid in the heartland of America wound up being a wise choice and a calculated risk.
Iron Man 3 has the unique distinction of being a sequel to two different movies: Iron Man 2 and Marvel’s The Avengers. What are the challenges of maintaining all of those different storylines and converging them in this one film?
It’s a complex thing. [Marvel Studios’ President] Kevin Feige and Shane Black were the ones who really had to hammer out where all these strings go, and how everything moves something when you pull it.
The aftermath of the alien encounter in New York at the end of Marvel’s The Avengers had a huge impact on your character. What was your take on how much you could refer to that adventure, and how much Tony Stark didn’t want to talk about it – especially when young Harley tries to question him?
We just wanted to play with that in a binary way. It’s weird when one movie that’s connected to another doesn’t reference that movie at all. It seems like you were so busy trying to make your thing work that you didn’t have space. I think it would lack of confidence if we didn’t refer to it. I thought it would be helpful. I just like the idea of this kid getting under my skin. I like the idea of kids bringing their parents to the verge of an anxiety attack, and then, once they push you there, saying, “What’s wrong with you?” I thought that was a nice way to refer back to it. We needed reasons, and sometimes you just look at the bigger picture of this continuance of stories.
What do you think you have become for comic book fans, and how do you analyze the role of Iron Man in pop culture?
I keep re-reminding myself of this… Societally, it’s the same thing as when Stan Lee wrote the original [Iron Man comic] in the 60s. It was about this very conservative, military, industrial complex guy who gets injured by his own weapons of destruction. It was wish fulfillment for a counter-culture generation. The nice thing is that nowadays, with the market flooded with all sorts of characters in TV and movies, Tony and the people he is in contact with in his non-Avengers world are real world things. It’s about technology helping you overcome crises, and it’s also about the challenge of the crises technology can incur.
In recent years, Tony Stark has dealt with betrayal, blood poisoning and alien encounters, as well as the destruction and loss of his home. Where would you like to see the character go next?
I don’t know. It’s funny, but these things tend to come out of creative discussions, and there’s always something new coming up. When we are shooting, we always say, “Wouldn’t that be great?” But a lot of those things have come true already. I was always saying, “God, I just want to see Pepper in the suit. I want to see her experience what Tony gets from it, and I want her to help him transcend it.” The wish fulfillment happens pretty quickly in the Marvel universe, so I don’t have any particular goals for it right now.
Clip: Nothing Is The Same Since NY
AN INTERVIEW WITH REBECCA HALL FOR IRON MAN 3
What was your favorite scene to shoot in Iron Man 3?
I truly enjoyed the flashback sequence in the movie. The filming of that whole millennium party sequence was brilliant. There’s such a rapport and an energy between Jon Favreau [who plays Happy Hogan] and Robert Downey Jr. [who plays Tony Stark/Iron Man], as well as with Guy Pearce [who plays Aldrich Killian]. All of those humors combined made it quite a raucous, creative and entertaining environment.
Did you have any trepidation about stepping into such a huge superhero franchise?
I think there’s trepidation when you get involved with any job. It was more like the feeling you get when you go to an amusement park and you going on those scary rides. It’s exciting, but you know what you’re getting into. It might be a bit scary, but you know it’s going to be fun – and you can get off and leave at the end. Any job is scary, but you tackle the challenges head on and you hope for the best.
How would you describe your character in the movie?
Maya Hansen is an incredibly smart scientist. Some would say she is a genius scientist who’s developed some very cutting-edge technology that is one of the principal components of the story.
What attracted you to the role?
The first thing that attracted me to playing Maya was the fact that she wasn’t so much a notch on Tony Stark’s belt from the past, when he was a playboy. She had an affair with him but she was just as likely not to call him, as he was to call her. The second thing I liked about her was the fact that there wasn’t a reductive stereotypical catfight between Maya and Pepper Potts [played by Gwyneth Paltrow], as if they have nothing more interesting to do than fight over their ex-lovers. Instead, there’s parity between them. There’s a much more honest, sophisticated relationship between the two women who get along and have much in common. I thought that was interesting and refreshing, and it made the role an attractive prospect to play.
Were there any other reasons behind your decision to sign up for Iron Man 3?
This project seemed like it would be very fun to try. When I got the call asking if I wanted to be a part of this huge juggernaut, I was far too curious not to take part. It’s been fascinating and exciting. And it’s been thrilling, too.
As an actress, what did you learn from working on Iron Man 3?
I learned a lot. I learned how to think on my toes and to improvise with Robert Downey Jr., which was definitely exhausting.
Have you been surprised by the success of the movie and the fans’ ecstatic response to the story?
I understand that these are arguably the most successful and popular films being made in the world at the moment. Anything that involves comic books has that fan following and you know that when you get on board. However, it’s certainly overwhelming when you see someone holding a 5-foot banner with your face painted on it as Maya Hansen. That’s not something I’m used to. It’s different, but it’s exciting.
What are your thoughts on the earlier movies in the Iron Man franchise?
I remember going to see the first Iron Man film and watching it and thinking, ‘It’s not just about the action sequences and the thrill ride or whatever; it’s also about the repartee and the wit and the dialogue.’ There was also a screwball battle-of-the-sexes comedy going on that I loved. I thought to myself, ‘This would be a great thing to be a part of.’
Clip: Malibu Attack
AN INTERVIEW WITH GUY PEARCE FOR IRON MAN 3
What physical and emotional challenges did you face in tackling the role of Aldrich Killian in Iron Man 3?
As far as challenges go, there’s quite a lot of green screen work on a movie like this. I’d done a bit of green screen acting before and, on some level, it’s actually fun because you’re relying on your imagination. With this movie, it wasn’t so extreme that you were trying to imagine a person in front of you that actually wasn’t there or anything like that. But you’ve got a visual effects team working away constantly, and they’re constantly showing you previews of the scene you’re meant to be doing and then how it’s actually meant to look. You’re in really good hands in a visual sense.
How does it feel to jump onboard a superhero franchise for its third installment?
I think the interesting thing about this is the fact that there are two previous films that were both very successful. Rebecca [Hall, who plays Maya Hansen in Iron Man 3] and I had seen both of those films, and we were both big fans of them. We really admired them, so it was interesting to step into something that already existed.
What was it like to walk on to the set of Iron Man 3 for the first time? And how easy was it to get used to the Marvel style of moviemaking?
I don’t know if you get the sense of what Marvel moviemaking is like, necessarily. [Iron Man 3 director and co-screenwriter] Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr. were leading the charge – but in the end, lots of films feel the same once you’re standing there in front of the camera. You just try to be convincing and do what you need to do.
Did you have any trepidation about stepping into such a huge franchise?
You feel nervous about any film you take on. However, I think if I feel inspired enough by a job to want to take it on, then you’re prepared to face any of the concerns that you have. I don’t think I had any concerns that would have stopped me from doing Iron Man 3. I’m certainly aware that there are a lot of fans behind comic strip films and these Iron Man films, but you know you’re in good hands with these guys. Ultimately, you just want to make sure you can bring a truth to the character you’re playing.
What were your inspirations from your character: reality, the comics, or the script?
My inspirations came purely from the script. I was never a comic strip fan. I spoke to the Marvel guys when we first started and I had a look at them [the comics] – but, in a way, I find that the script has to be the motivation on any job because if it isn’t then you’re in trouble. There had obviously been a lot of work done prior to me jumping on board the movie, where the writers spent time picking and choosing the best bits [from the comic book world] to formulate into a script. For me, it sometimes confuses things to go back to the source material and start pulling it apart because you then have to go backwards through the process that these guys have gone through.
What else inspired your portrayal of Aldrich Killian?
To be honest, the true inspiration was sitting down with Shane Black. We had a meeting, and at that time I hadn’t even seen the script yet – but Shane ran me through the story and the whole thing sounded fascinating to me. I got what I needed from that meeting. When I looked at the script, we also started discussing it – just to make sure that everything I thought I understood was right. I also had some chats with [co-screenwriter] Drew Pearce to be clear about everything.
Your character appears in the first and third acts of the movie, leaving 13 years of unspoken backstory and development that doesn’t appear on screen. How much of that backstory did you work out when you discussed the character with the screenwriters?
We just talked about the development of the company that he had begun and the effects that Extremis had over that period of time. You also see the progression of Aldrich’s look, so it was just a matter of talking through that and making sure we understood it. We talked about when Pepper Potts [played by Gwyneth Paltrow] would have worked for Killian and for how long. But it was all fairly straightforward to understand.
What are the most important elements to a villain?
That depends on the movie. And it depends on the story, I suppose. I guess it’s ultimately about being able to undercut who your heroic character is. It’s also about the threat, or what they offer as a threat. The thing about Aldrich is that I don’t know whether he entirely knows how far he wants to go.
What do you mean by that?
Well, something that’s dangerous about Aldrich is that he’s propelled at the beginning of the story to get himself out of this ‘black hole’ that he’s in – and that’s amplified by Tony [Stark] turning his back on him. Like a lot of people who obtain power on a particular level, I think knowing where to stop becomes the issue. Self-control is probably something that is questionable in a lot of villains.
The Extremis storyline is an interesting theme in the movie. Do you think science is dangerous?
I guess it certainly can be if it’s in the wrong hands. Technology and any of sort of development can potentially go one way or another, couldn’t it? Just look at the internet ….
AN INTERVIEW WITH DREW PEARCE FOR IRON MAN 3
When it comes to superhero movies, what makes Iron Man 3 stand out from the crowd?
Coming into this project, [Iron Man 3 director and co-screenwriter] Shane [Black] said he wanted to bring in lots of different genres because a movie like this is sometimes just regarded as a superhero movie. One of the great things about the first Iron Man that we always discussed was the fact that it’s as much a romantic-comedy as it is an action movie.
How similar is the Tony Stark we see in Iron Man 3 to the Tony Stark we see in Marvel comic books?
I think what’s interesting about the Marvel universe is the way that we take ideas and characters from the comic books, but there is no version of Tony Stark in the comic books that’s exactly like the one in the Marvel cinematic universe. I think one of the brilliant things that Marvel does is they use great actors like Rebecca Hall [who plays Maya Hansen in Iron Man 3], Guy Pearce [who plays Aldrich Killian] and Sir Ben Kingsley [who plays The Mandarin], and it ends up being a bit more symbiotic. To be honest, it’s a bit more old-fashioned. You end up writing to the great actors as much as you do to your inspirations in the comics and the ideas you have.
Tony Stark is very cynical as a character. Does that add a cynical tone to the movie?
My sense of humor – along with Shane and Robert Downey Jr.’s – is quite cynical and is about undercutting things. Weirdly, even though I think the tone of the movie is somewhat sarcastic or cheeky at times, I actually think the overall tone of the movie is Capra-esque. There’s a bit of hope and a bit of love. It’s sincere, and [Jon] Favreau set a brilliant template for that in the first movie. For all the myth and all the comic book themes, what he always came back to was grown-up emotional reality – and you see that mostly in the Tony Stark/Pepper Potts relationship. In this movie, you see it in the relationships with Killian and Maya as well.
Christmas is a common theme that runs through a lot of Shane Black movies. Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and now Iron Man 3 are all set during the holiday season. Why was this period chosen as the setting of this Marvel movie?
If I was going to go and see a Shane Black Iron Man 3 movie, then it had to be at Christmas – but there’s always a reason for it, too. There’s something interesting about Christmas. When you’re telling a story that’s about taking characters apart, it almost has more resonance if you put it at Christmas. If you’re telling a story about lonely characters, then that loneliness is heightened at Christmas, too.
You wrote a 25-page outline and treatment for Iron Man 3 in a matter of days, which then led to you signing up to write the movie’s script alongside Shane Black. How quick was the screenwriting process?
To be honest, the process was way longer than that. I had some notes at the beginning of the project, but this process truthfully started with Shane and I on opposite sofas in his house surrounded by his dogs trying to eat the treats off the table. That’s where we sat for four months. Marvel let us cook the stew for as long as possible before they saw what we had, which was great.
What themes or scenes were always in the storyline and script for Iron Man 3?
Marvel always knew there were certain points that we wanted to hit. We wanted to take stuff away from Tony and the house attack was always very much on the cards – but other than that, it was really all up for grabs. It was a case of Shane and I sitting around talking rubbish for as long as possible until we found stories that we really liked.
At the beginning of Iron Man 3, War Machine became Iron Patriot. Why did you decide to bring this particular character to the movie?
One of the things in the stew of this movie is the idea of symbols. We thought about the way that in the modern age, symbols are more powerful than the facts themselves, or of the substance behind them. Even though Iron Patriot as a concept in the comic books has nothing to do with what we play with here, the outfit plays into that idea because it’s such a potent-looking super-heroic notion. Quite early on, he went into the pot because we love the idea of playing around with that. We also liked the theme, as well as comedy and the reality of the fact that there’s a superhero getting rebranded in order to make it more popular, which feels like it was something that could genuinely happen in the real world. That was our reason for including him.
And finally …. How many Iron Man movies do you think there are going to be in the Marvel franchise?
Eight? [Laughs] I don’t know. It’s interesting because Robert is at a place where he doesn’t have to do any movies, so unless he’s excited about the idea of what the character is going to do and that it’s going to feel fresh and that there is still a story to tell, he’s genuinely not going to do it. It’s two years of his life. We found something in Iron Man 3 that he definitely did want to engage with. I’m sure it can be done again.
**IRON MAN 3 IS RELEASED ON BLU-RAY, BLU-RAY 3D AND DVD BY WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT ON SEPTEMBER 24**
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