Actor gets frank on winning an Oscar, walking away from superheroes, his paycheck

Apr 17, 2013 09:29 GMT  ·  By
Robert Downey Jr. promotes “Iron Man 3” with GQ, talks money, career and everything else
   Robert Downey Jr. promotes “Iron Man 3” with GQ, talks money, career and everything else

Every Robert Downey Jr. interview is a great interview, because he has the ability to call the spade a spade without coming across as arrogant or annoying. His chat with GQ for the latest edition of the magazine is truly a pleasure to read.

Among other things, Robert hints at a possible end of the “Iron Man” franchise because of his age, he talks about his chances of winning an Oscar and he’s sure he will have one someday, and he also reveals the insane amount of money he was paid for his role in “The Avengers.”

“This period of time, this shall pass. Fortunately I’ve been around the block enough – I’m not ill-prepared. And I love change. I love it when a lightning bolt hits the genny and you’re down for two hours on the set. Now, this isn’t a lightning strike, this is like the warning of a gathering storm,” he tells the publication.

He’s talking about being one of the most in-demand actors of the moment, mostly because of his role in “Iron Man” and other related Marvel films.

As for the “gathering storm” he mentions, he doesn’t want to get into details so, when pressed for them, he recalls how he busted his ankle doing a stunt for the third installment in the superhero franchise.

Without reading too much in between the lines, he’s saying the clock is ticking on his Tony Stark role.

“It got me thinking about how big the message from your cosmic sponsor needs to be before you pick it up. How many genre movies can I do? How many follow-ups to a successful follow-up are actually fun?” he asks.

“It’s not unlike: I heard Brady signed on for three more years with New England, and then he’s done being a QB, because he’ll be 40. I’m 47, and I’ll be 50,” Robert adds.

In the same interview, he says he’s confident he’ll win an Oscar, no doubt about it. If he doesn’t win for a role in the next few years, he will definitely win one when he’s “old enough.”

Either way, Downey says, he really doesn’t understand all this fuss around a statuette. “I mean, it’s not like we’re at the [expletive]-ing Olympics or something,” he muses.

He’s just having fun with it all and, just as importantly, making a fortune at the same time.

Though actors rarely talk about the kind of paychecks they can command, Robert is not shy to admit that he got to negotiate his salary for “The Avengers” to include a cut of the box office profits, for a total of $50 million (€37.9 million), for doing something that he describes as “so much fun it didn’t even feel like work.”

His full interview with GQ is here.