Christopher Nolan: Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man was “one of the greatest casting decisions” in history

There are some movie characters you just cannot imagine anyone else playing. Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow…they’re simply irreplaceable. According to director Christopher Nolan, no casting has ever been as important as Robert Downey Jr. getting playing Iron Man, which kickstarted the mammoth Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Nolan has long been an admirer fan of Downey Jr and finally got to work with him in his latest blockbuster Oppenheimer. Their collaboration has been very successful, with Downey Jr. recently declaring it his “best film.” That’s high praise from a man with his filmography.

While appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Nolan weighed in on Robert Downey Jr.’s career, calling the decision to cast him as Tony Stark one of the greatest in the history of movies:

"When [Jon] Favreau had the insight to cast him as Iron Man, I mean that’s … one of the greatest casting decisions in the history of movies. And you look at what that did and where that went with everything. And I think that was Jon just knowing what an incredible actor, what incredible potential it was from Downey. And then the movie star charisma, that wonderful charisma comes into play."

It’s nice to see a such a respected filmmaker being respectful of Marvel movies, what with legends like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola throwing shade in its direction.

Robert Downey Jr. had to pare down his movie star charisma for Oppenheimer

In Oppenheimer, Downey Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Nolan requested that Downey Jr. mute his movie star charisma to play a much more grounded character. “What was cool about getting to work with Downey on this project was to be able to go to him and say, ‘Okay put that charisma, put that movie star thing to one side for a second, and just lose yourself in this real-life human being who is so complex and has such an incredible part to play in Oppenheimer’s story,” he said.

"And to watch him just sort of go back to that geniuses as an actor, just finding the truth in another human being and presenting it, and the things he does in the film, I think a lot of his fan base is going to be extremely surprised. It’s really cool to see somebody who’s achieved such greatness as a movie star, that pivot completely and stretch themselves in a way that a lot of people haven’t seen him do."

Oppenheimer is in theaters now!

Sure, Christopher Nolan would direct a James Bond movie

Whether he’s taking on superheroes with the Dark Knight trilogy, going out into the cosmos with Interstellar, entering dreams in Inception, or whatever, Nolan has had a long and fruitful career. That said, he remains keen to get in one of the biggest movie franchises on the planet: James Bond.

“The influence of those movies in my filmography is embarrassingly apparent. It would be an amazing privilege to do one,“ Nolan said. “At the same time, when you take on a character like that you’re working with a particular set of constraints.”

"It has to be the right moment in your creative life where you can express what you want to express and really burrow into something within the appropriate constraints because you would never want to take on something like that and do it wrong."

With Daniel Craig recently vacating the role, paving the way for an all new Bond, now is the perfect time to get on board with the franchise. Just saying. Keep it in mind, Nolan!

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