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Jon Favreau was the lucky man to direct the first to Iron Man films, but was also the man to persuade Marvel into casting Robert Downey Jr as the titular character, something that has went on to become one of the greatest casting choices of all time. It's difficult to imagine seeing anyone else in the role, but believe it or not Marvel Studios didn't have a tough time picturing someone different in the role, but when they were convinced of Robert Downey Jr, they knew that they struck gold. Jon Favreau has been promoting his newest film The Chef all over the place recently, and even talked to 100.3 The Jack FM earlier this month about the gamble that was taken in deciding to cast RDJ in the now-famous role. “I remember when we cast Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Iron Man’, and I was told no several times… It was my job as a director to show that it was the best choice creatively…and now the Marvel Universe is the biggest franchise in film history.” At the time, Marvel didn't seem like they wanted to take a big risk and cast someone who was arguably more known for his drug issues that he was with his actual roles, but now Marvel is casting many unknown actors in huge roles and taking many, many risks. Their ability to be able to trust younger and less experienced actors is mostly due to casting Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man. “The one thing I think I have a really special ability with is having an eye for other people’s talent,” Jon continued, “and really being able to see the potential in somebody else, and help cultivate that… I’ve been involved with a lot of careers that have shot up between Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell in ‘Elf’, and Robert Downey was yet another opportunity to see someone’s potential and help support them.”
Robert is now considered by many to be the face of Marvel Studios, even being invested in the role enough to sign back on for more films even though he wasn't required to. He has taken much fame with the role, and loves his fans for helping him out with getting him back on track with his career. Jon Favreau wrapped up the Iron Man portion of the interview by talking a bit more about how perfect they eventually thought he was for the part after they got him in to do some scenes for them. “Everybody knew [Robert Downey Jr.] was talented,” he continued. “Certainly by studying the ‘Iron Man’ role and developing that script I realized that the character seemed to line-up with Robert in all the good and bad ways. And the story of ‘Iron Man’ was really the story of Robert’s career.” Jon Favreau's The Chef has been in theaters for over a month now, so you can check it out if you get the chance.
Jon Favreau, along with Terrence Howard (first), Gwyneth Paltrow (second), and Robert Downey Jr (fourth) at the premiere of Iron Man.