Robert Downey Jr thinks playing Iron Man was the closest he'll come to "being a trust fund kid".
Robert Downey Jr
The 54-year-old actor - who played the iconic superhero between 2008 and 2019 - has admitted that the sought-after role gave him a feeling of security.
He explained: "There's always a dependency on something that feels like a sure thing. It's the closest thing I will ever come to being a trust fund kid.
"And also there's a real bell-shaped curve. Initially by creating and associating and synergizing with Tony Stark and the Marvel universe and all this stuff, and being a good company man, but also being a little off kilter, being creative and getting into all these other partnerships, it was a time when - it's like, what do they say? Owners start looking like their pets.
"Occasionally you would pull back from it and go 'All right, let me get off the teat of this archetype and let me see where I stand.' And you can feel really buffeted and you can be really spun out by it."
Downey Jr also insisted it's important he draws a distinction between his on-screen character and his real-life self.
Speaking to 'Off-Camera With Sam Jones', he said: "First thing you learn in theatre arts: aesthetic distance.
"I am not my work. I am not what I did with that studio. I am not that period of time that I spent playing this character. And it sucks, because the kid in all of us wants to be like, 'No. It's always going to be summer camp and we're all holding hands and singing 'Kumbaya'."
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