Robert Downey Jr. is one of the most successful and fan-beloved actors in the entertainment industry who, despite being the son of two well-known celebrities, built his star-studded career on his own. Although he stumbled in the wild too, he also found his footing by himself; to the point where he is now regarded as one of the most outstanding celebrities ever in Hollywood.
In fact, even while he was still in the early, progressive stages of his career, Downey Jr. learned quite a lot, especially while working on his ever-so-stunning masterpiece from 1992, Chaplin. If anything, this $12 million movie, which had a fairly young 25-year-old RDJ trying to make corrections to it, soon had him realizing his real place on a movie set.
How Chaplin Made Robert Downey Jr. Realize His Place on a Film Set
Robert Downey Jr. has undergone a lot of stuff throughout his career — reputation declines, bad decisions, controversy, critical acclamation, Oscar snubs – you name it. But all of those experiences have tremendously impacted him, and the mastermind has seemingly learned quite a lot at each stage of his life and work as an actor.
One of these incredibly impactful moments came when he was only 25 and working on his all-time fan-favorite (although also a box-office bomb) from 1992, Chaplin. During that time, he was already working incredibly hard to prepare for his comedic role, and thus, claimed himself to be “as much of a ‘Chaplin’ expert as anyone involved in the project.”
That said, he didn’t hesitate to make corrections based on his respective perspective of the character. As he himself confessed in an interview with Vanity Fair:
I was making corrections to the things that were factually and historically inaccurate. To which Chaplin said, ‘But puppet, we’re making a film, it’s not a documentary.’ I did learn at that point though, that it’s hard to tell a story any more interestingly than the way it actually occurred.
At the same time, he also admitted that, being 25 and “given the keys to the kingdom,” he acted just like any other individual in his place: “You’re going to probably come out of center. Maybe out of fear, maybe out of confidence.” But this very thing also taught him something really important: His real place on a movie set as an actor.
For this, he had to realize the true essence of his character and just how he was going to bring him back to life since he was already making all those corrections. As Downey Jr. continued to share:
So I was saying, right before Chaplin did a film called, ‘The Kid’, with Jackie Coogan, his wife had had a miscarriage, so that was his way of healing from the trauma of that loss. He was like, ‘Robert, the audience-‘, and I was like, ‘It’s too episodic, we have to make this [indistinct].’
While this was his respective approach, it didn’t take him long to realize that, at that stage and particular point in his career and life, he was just another actor trying to step into someone else’s shoes in order to portray him. With this came the harsh realization:
Anyway, you realize you’re not the director when you’re not directing.
Of course, this crucial realization on the sets of the $12 million box office disaster led to the Iron Man legend coming to terms with his respective position on a movie set as a performer. But while that was that, he also didn’t hesitate to land the credit for his master performance in the movie to filmmaker Richard Attenborough.
This Realization Made Robert Downey Jr. Perceive the Essence of a “Great Director”
Truthfully enough, trying to do something he clearly wasn’t there for when he was pretty much of a protege rather than a mentor himself was a hard pill Downey Jr. had to swallow while making Chaplin. At the same time, it also helped him discern the essence of a truly “great director.”
As he continued to express in the same interview:
A great director will incorporate all of your strong associations and the things that you feel are really important and find a way to help you get them into the character.
To put it in a nutshell, Robert Downey Jr.’s experience on this particular film set was a pivotal moment in helping him recognize his place as an actor on a movie set. And, of course, that realization stuck with him, considering how he grew into the iconic actor we know today, leaving a forever-lasting impact on the entertainment industry.
You can watch Chaplin on Prime Video.
