Late DJ AM Has Cameo in ‘Iron Man 2’

In August 2009, celebrity DJ Adam Goldstein, known mostly under his stage name of DJ AM, was found lifeless in his New York apartment after he had accidentally overdosed. Before passing away, the 36-year-old DJ filmed a brief cameo for the upcoming “Iron Man 2,” and it will eventually see the light of day.

As People magazine informs, director Jon Favreau had a very hard time deciding whether to keep the cameo in the final version of the film or not. He wanted to pay homage to the late star but not in a way that might offend – even in the slightest – Adam’s family and friends, who are still grieving his sudden death. In the end, Favreau came to the conclusion that the film would include the scene.

“We tried to make it respectful, and for people who know him, they’ll get a kick out of it, and for people who don’t, it will sort of slide by without much notice,” Favreau tells the mag. “I was just a fan of his, just an admirer of his work. It was supposed to be a one-day bit. But Robert took a real shine to him, as we all did. His energy was amazing, he was such an inspiring guy and there was a lot of depth to him and this positive energy. He ended up staying on with us for about a week and it was just great; we set up this turntable and between takes he would give me pointers,” the director explains.

Favreau adds that what convinced him was the fact that many of Adam’s friends insisted with him that he did not take out the scene in editing. “In the scene, Tony Stark, – played by Robert Downey Jr. – throws his own birthday bash at his oceanfront Malibu mansion. With DJ AM spinning the tunes, a drunken Stark shows off his smooth moves to rapper Tupac Shakur’s hit ‘California Love.’ Soon after, the wild party turns into a fight scene, and Stark says, ‘Adam, I need a fat beat’,” People adds of the scene in question.

“Iron Man 2” is out in theaters at the end of this month. Poised to become one of the best selling movies of this year, it stars Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, like the first film in the franchise also did, but also includes Scarlett Johansson and Mickey Rourke as the villains.