Robert Downey Jr is one of 2008's bissiest actor hot off the heels of Iron Man he returns to his indie film roots with coming of age drama Charlie Bartlett.
Robert Downey Jr
Starring Anton Yelchin teenager Charlie Barlett has been expelled from another private school and finds himself at a public school.
Struggling to fit in Charlie becomes an underground, not to mention under-aged, shrink who only listens to the private confessions of his schoolmates, and makes the imprudent decision to hand out the pills he's proffered from his own psychiatric sessions.
What do you think of Charlie as a character?
I think he plays an important role. He offers therapy to the students, who obviously don’t have much of a voice. He offers a friendly ear. If you think about it, some of the great characters in the history of film are the ones that had their asses kicked so hard during the movie, but they’d keep swinging.
Charlie is up there with them because he shares this eternal optimism. He’s not trying to be anything he isn’t, but has a lot of facets to his personality. He’s a little messed up, which is endearing. Furthermore he’s got a good heart, his heart is definitely in the right place.
How does his story play out?
Ultimately, what redeems Charlie is that he’s a very teachable human being. I think left to his own devices he’ll always make the right decision. Charlie goes on a quest, and there is this kind of hero’s journey. By the end he knows what is right and he intends to do it.
And how do you fit in?
Charlie has an adversarial relationship with the principal of the school, played by me. My character senses there is something special about this kid, but decides that he is also troublesome when his very own daughter takes a shine to him. Thus this chess match ensues between the establishment and the boy.
Was it difficult for you to play such an establishment character?
It was easy. The truth is, lately anyway, I’m a big old square. I’m grounded and focused, and a little bit up tight. I’m a perfectionist. I live to be married, be a parent and do movies.
So the movie is an inter-generational battle then?
It’s a bit of a rights of passage movie in the strangest sense of the word I think. There is this great coming together of principal and student, culminating in the truth finally coming from my character’s heart.
It wasn’t easy for Gardner to get there, but he realises by the end that he could trust the guy, and they become allies. It’s this amazing intergenerational thing that really speaks to the truth of where we’re shooting and missing with our kids, and where we should be quick to see how this generation is right. The move speaks to several generations and I think that both sides of the coin are given equal weight.
How was working with Anton?
When we got together, Anton tended to notice that I would get the script and just throw it against the wall saying 'well we’re going to have to re-write this'. He would say 'but you didn’t even read it'.
The success of the film comes down to the days when we were working together and there was some heavy stuff, and some fun stuff. He really worked his ass off.
I just remember we had to go toe to toe a couple of times there, literally. You couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Charlie but Anton. He’s a very eccentric guy, but he’s smart and talented in a variety of ways. He’s not your typical star kid (not that he’s a kid at all). He has a great range.
How did the other actors relate to him?
It’s such a tour de force by Anton. It took confident people around him to not be bothered by the fact that he was dominating and demonstrating such a wide range of abilities. I saw during the shooting that he really had taken on the skin of this guy Charlie. But it’s funny too. In some ways you are creating the character, and in some ways once you lock in and say 'I’m available to let this happen' you just start channelling.
Hopefully what comes across, and what we’re saying, and why we’re so pleased is because it seems like we’re demonstrating a little bit of what this generation can relate to. I didn’t have a problem with Anton. He’s a confident guy, and I’m a confident guy. We went toe to toe and had a great day, and was glad that it was over. We knew that scene was pivotal a big end game.
Do you think of yourself as a method actor?
You’re supposed to have an aesthetic distance between you and your character. When it’s done you’re supposed to be able to detach. That can be become an issue when there’s too much happening outside. But the job’s the job. You can’t have a contractor thinking back to the last house he built.
What does the film actually say do you think?
Well Charlie learns that you don’t live in a vacuum, and it’s not all about what you are externally achieving. It is about how you are living and whether you have some sort of moral psychology.
How do you feel to Charlie Bartlett being compared to John Hughes movies?
There was a kind of simple understanding of who John was making the movies for. The people Hughes was making the films for are our age now. The audience that Jon and Anton are addressing, although it includes us and we’re given a voice, is today’s generation.
I think that’s best. Teen films are often conceived and written and imposed by people that don’t really understand the generation they are trying to approach. That didn’t happen here.
What would you say to people about the film?
Will you just see Charlie Bartlett! We can only give so much! We did our part you sons of bitches. Just do it or I’ll come at you like a wombat!
Charlie Bartlett is released 16th May
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