Actor Robert Downey Jr. is regarded as one of the best in the business and has worked hard to get to the point where everyone looks up to him. When people think of the actor, they immediately think of his most successful and well-known role, Iron Man, which made him a superhero and a prominent member of the MCU and altered the landscape of blockbuster movies in the industry.

Alongside Cillian Murphy, who played Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the actor most recently portrayed Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Downey Jr. received a lot of praise for his portrayal of the character, and during the film’s premiere, he said that Lewis Strauss was one of his best parts to date. However, the actor has different movies which he says are his most important titles.

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. declares The Shaggy Dog and Dolittle as his most important titles

In an interview with The New York Times Magazine earlier this year, Iron Man fame actor Robert Downey Jr. cited his 2006’s The Shaggy Dog and 2020’s Dolittle as his most important titles. Robert said,
“I finished the Marvel contract and then hastily went into what had all the promise of being another big, fun, well-executed potential franchise in ‘Dolittle’. I had some reservations. Me and my team seemed a little too excited about the deal and not quite excited enough about the merits of the execution. But at that point, I was bulletproof. I was the guru of all genre movies. Honestly, the two most important films I’ve made in the last 25 years are ‘The Shaggy Dog,’ because that was the film that got Disney saying they would insure me. Then the second most important film was ‘Dolittle,’ because ‘Dolittle’ was a two-and-a-half-year round of squandered opportunity.”

Robert Downey Jr. in The Shaggy Dog
In The Shaggy Dog, the actor plays Dr. Kozak alongside Tim Allen, who plays Dave Douglas. The movie received negative reviews from the critics and the audience, but that did not bother the actor because of the fact that major studios like Disney would still hire him after his career was on the rocks following his arrest in 1996 for possession of drugs and an unloaded gun. People always mistake that it was Iron Man who brought the actor back in the industry but it was actually The Shaggy Dog that paved the way for him to suit up for Iron Man.

Why does Dolittle hold a special place in Robert Downey Jr.’s heart?

Robert Downey Jr. played Dr. Dolittle in Dolittle, which he produced with his wife Susan Downey under their Team Downey Productions banner, but unfortunately, the movie received negative remarks even though it grossed over $251.5 million worldwide and became the seventh-highest-grossing movie of 2020.

Talking about why it holds a significant place in his life, he said,

“The stress it put on my missus as she rolled her sleeves up to her armpits to make it even serviceable enough to bring to market was shocking. After that point — what’s that phrase? Never let a good crisis go to waste? — We had this reset of priorities and made some changes in who our closest business advisers were.”

Robert Downey Jr. in Dolittle
Amid appearing in a flop movie, Downey Jr. shifted his mind to documenting his now late father, Robert Downey Sr., which was released on Netflix last year where Downey Jr, was referred to as Sr. He said, “It’s a way for me to let myself know that just because this may be the most important thing that I ever commit to a data card on a camera, it doesn’t mean it isn’t [expletive] content to everyone else.” 

Robert Downey Jr. in his post-Marvel phase

The actor who last appeared as Iron Man in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame was asked about what kind of movies he is looking forward to working on after being one of the most loved superheroes in the MCU. Downey Jr. said,
“At this point, you’re not doing it for the money. Were you ever doing it for the money once your baseline needs were met? Probably not. Did you think it was about money and prestige? Probably from the time I was a teenager until that illusion dissolved in front of me, leaving me in a depressive state. But then there’s the why: I don’t know why I can relate to Lewis Strauss so much, but I felt like I was meant to play this role, and I knew I’d be in capable hands. ‘Oppenheimer’ has been a bit of a demarcation line for me.”

Robert Downey Jr. recently appeared in Oppenheimer
The Iron Man actor noted, “I’m a dedicated martial arts student, and it is great to spar with someone who is more dangerous than you.” 

Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man made studio history last December by becoming the first from the lineup to be inducted into the National Film Registry.

Source: NY Times