EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Cast of ‘IRON MAN’

This interview was actually taped the Friday before Iron Man debuted but we’ve been so busy here with a whole slew of things going on that its taken us this long to get it to you! My bad! Enjoy!

[Jay] Welcome one and all to another edition of VulkonLIVE! Our online podcast which features stars from your favorite sci-fi shows and movies. Right now joining me via speaker phone is the bulk of the cast from the new Marvel Comics film IRON MAN. Thanks so much for joining me…I know we’re on a tight schedule so we’ll get right into it. My first Question is for Robert Downey Jr., we’ve read that you pitched yourself for the role to director Jon Favreau, how did that go?

[Robert Downey, Jr.] I was like, ‘Jon, you know, I think I’m really the guy for this role.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I think you’ll be perfect. I don’t think it’s gonna happen.’ I said, ‘Well, I think it’s gonna happen, and let me know if comes down to a screen test or something like that, it’ll be a pleasure.’ And that’s how it went down.

[Jay] Which brings me to Jon, you’ve directed lots of films, what was it like to get behind the helm (as it were) of this iconic character?

[Jon Favreau] It’s fun to direct Iron Man because he is one of the super heroes that nobody has made a movie about, he’s the biggest one of the pantheon of Marvel characters. He’s an interesting character in that he’s an adult who has lived life and had problem and he’s not just an adolescent who is coming of age in this film as in many super hero films.

[Jay] That’s awesome! Well my mother-in-law actually went with my wife and I to the special sneak preview last night and she was so excited to see Gwenyth Paltrow, could you (uh Gwenyth?) tell us about your role in the film.

[Gwenyth Paltrow] I play Pepper Potts, who is Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, long-suffering assistant and they have a very good relationship. They sort of liken him to a Howard Hughes kind of figure, industrialist, billionaire, handsome, womanizer.

[Jay] Now for an actress like yourself this is a much smaller role than the public is used to seeing you in, with all the changes going on in your life (of late) what sort of roles are you looking for nowadays?

[Gwenyth] It has to be not too big of a part because I don’t want to work like five days a week for three months. So it has to be like a medium sized part. Small to medium sized part with a really good people, people who are going to inspire me and make me a better actor.

[Jay] I know you guys have a full slat of interviews so I’ll move quickly along, my next question is for Mr. Jeff Bridges; what was it like to shave your head for the movie?

[Jeff Bridges] I have never shave my head, always wanted to and I thought, ‘Someday a part will come along and I’ll have to do it and this one came along and I saw the comic book character then said, oh, then I’ll do this, I’ll talk to Jon about it and he said, well, don’t feel like you have to shave your head. I said, oh really, I kind of wanted him to say, oh yeah, you have to shave your head, but he didn’t so we kind of chipped at it.

[Jay] Sweet! Obviously you’re no rookie to scifi but why Iron Man?

[Jeff Bridges] This genre of, you know ‘Comic Book Movie’, I remember when I first heard about it and heard that Jon Favreau was going to be involved. That combination seemed so peculiar to me. I was curious to see what Jon’s take on it was and he told me what he had in mind and that he wanted to cast Robert Downey as ‘Iron Man’ and that sounded so odd to me and so intriguing and that’s why I’m here.

[Jay] Okay well Robert it’s been said by the likes of Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck that superhero costumes aren’t the best things to wear for films…what was it like to wear yours?

[RDJr] Super heroes who manufacture weapons and then build one that they wear and use is to me just a complete nerd-gasm. I think it just speaks to a very kind of American idea of what’s possible.

[Jay] And speaking for and of us nerds, was it hard for you guys to make this the perfect fan friendly film?

[RDJr] It’s that kind of crazy Senate in the democracy where their votes just happen to count a lot more, you know? But by the time we were at Comic-Con and we showed them cut footage, I felt like, ‘Okay, our sensibilities and theirs are finding this compatibility. It’s funny, it probably speaks more to Jon and I being geeks at heart than, you know, than that we were pressure molding our movie into what we thought they wanted.

[Jay] Describe for me (if you will) Tony Stark in your own mind?

[RDJr] He doesn’t just go up and away and he takes off. There is a learning curve to everything. Everything is based in humanity and the function of trial and error and that everything worth doing is worth doing very very poorly until you figure out how to get it right. I like that he is probably as likely to kill himself trying to save people as he is to do the right thing.

[Jay] Okay this is my final question because I know your time is short; what was a truly memorable moment for you, while making IRON MAN?

[RDJr] The coolest for me was Jon and I at the end of a 12 hour day got in some cars in Seoul, Korea, and went out to a military base and did an impromptu screening for a bunch of the service men and women and their kids. And, that was something else. That really kind of gave us a shot in the ass, you know.

[Jay] Thanks so much for joining us for this edition of VulkonLIVE! Be hear next time when our guests will be EMile Hersch and Christina Ricci, stars from the new Wachowski film; SPEED RACER. For Vulkon Entertainment, I’m Jay Johnson and this has been VulkonLIVE!

Sphere: Related Content