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Robert Downey Jr. on ‘Sr.’, Addiction and Father’s Life – The Hollywood Reporter

Robert Downey Jr. still emotional to watch Sr.

“I shouldn’t have watched the last 20 minutes, I couldn’t handle it,” the superstar actor and producer said Sunday as he stepped onto the stage for a post-screening Q&A session inside the Complex. DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles. After wiping away tears, Downey Jr. sat across from his wife and producer Susan Downey to chat about their Netflix documentary about his filmmaker father, Robert Downey Sr., censored by hollywood reporterScott Feinberg, the award’s executive editor.

Downey Jr. I’m not the only one feeling overwhelmed with emotion. In the final moments of the Chris Smith-directed film, many sniffles can be heard inside the theater, where celebrity guests like Tom Holland, Zendaya, Adrien Brody and Oscar winner Travon can be heard. Free also joined the screening. But Downey Jr. was quick to point out that filmmakers weren’t trying to pull the strings of hearts.

“We’re not trying to do something tearful. It’s just the way it plays out that’s really emotional,” he explains, noting Smith as “our brave director” and adding, “We’re just trying to strike the right balance.” fit.”

It was not an easy feat. Filming for more than three years, Sr. is a poignant exploration of the maverick director’s colorful life and rebellious career as well as his relationship with his son before he died of Parkinson’s disease on July 7, 2021. made nearly 20 independent films in his career and many have been included in the documentaries including Sweet Smell of Sex, Chafed Elbows, Putney Swope, Pound, Greaser’s Palace, Hugo Pool, and Two Tons of Turquioise for Taos Tonight.

He has proven to be a unique documentary subject in that instead of opening up about his life and sitting in lengthy interviews, he quickly hijacked the production and casting of his film. in a movie alone.

Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr.  spoke onstage on The Hollywood Reporter and Netflix Present: An Afternoon with Robert Downey Jr.  - Sponsored by FIJI Water at the DGA Theater Complex on December 11, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr. speaking on stage during the ceremony hollywood reporter and The Netflix Show: Afternoon with Robert Downey Jr., sponsored by FIJI Water at the DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles on December 11, 2022.

Photo by Phillip Faraone/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

Sr., currently streaming on Netflix, has just been named best documentary of the year by the National Board of Review. It is currently Downey Jr.’s best-reviewed project. on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, a “surreal” fact he pointed out on stage. Even his wife was surprised. “Did you search for it or was it a title?” she asked. “Everybody thinks I’m so eccentric that I’m completely walking around in a bubble unknowingly,” he quips. “You know, I have a phone.”

Despite the huge success, he also says he finds it rather odd to see large-scale promotions for Sr. throughout Los Angeles. He notes: “You think you just drove past Westwood and got a picture of me and my dad.

Feinberg asks the couple to share the origin story for Sr., and Susan Downey explained that their production company, Team Downey, was working on a project centered on another (unnamed) father-son duo in Hollywood but the project didn’t attract much attention. attention. Then Emily Ford of Team Downey began chatting with Smith, who had expressed an interest in doing a project about Downey Jr.

Susan Downey recalls: “They were all so excited and started plotting, then they took it to Robert and he said, ‘No, but I’m going to do something about my dad’.

Downey Jr. explain that reaction. “Honestly, this whole project didn’t start off well for me, it was a model of evasion. How do I deal with the fact that this larger-than-life character, whom I’ve spent so many years under my influence, is unwell?” he say. “It became like Gordian Knot because he was so obsessed with the project. susan [asked], ‘What is this project?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, but we can’t stop.’ It really could have gone to hell in a hand basket.

Scott Feinberg speaks on stage with Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr.  on The Hollywood Reporter and Netflix Present: An Afternoon with Robert Downey Jr.  - Sponsored by FIJI Water at the DGA Theater Complex on December 11, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

CHEAP Awards editor-in-chief Scott Feinberg speaks onstage with Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr.

Photo by Phillip Faraone/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

Susan Downey added: “[Robert Downey Sr.] Was actively looking to get involved and had a project in progress, so I thought it was helpful. Then the second thing, which you all see in the movie, is pretty quick, it doesn’t matter what we want, this is his way of doing it. In the end, he joined because he had a way that he was willing to participate, which again, now that I think about it, also makes sense because this is someone who has always communicated through his films. It’s more than ever to articulate any feedback. To do it by making a movie or his version of it, it finally makes sense.

Adrien Brody attends The Hollywood Reporter and Netflix Present: An Afternoon with Robert Downey Jr - Sponsored by FIJI Water at the DGA Theater Complex on December 11, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Adrien Brody attended the screening and discussion.

Photo by Phillip Faraone/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

Sunday’s talk, presented by FIJI Water, is part of LA3C, a two-day inaugural festival of culture and creativity organized by FIJI Water. Hollywood Reporter’Owner of Penske Media. While the music portion of the festival takes place downtown at Los Angeles State Historic Park and features big names like Maluma, Snoop Dogg, Lil Baby, Seventeen and Free Nationals, brands Other Penske Media have hosted internal events across the city.

LA3C sponsors include Facebook, US Bank, Homedics, NYX Professional Makeup, Maker’s Mark, Redken, ViX+, Anheuser-Busch (Golden Road Brewing, Michelob ULTRA, Bud Light Seltzer, Stella Artois, Cutwater Spirits, NÜTRL Vodka Seltzer ), Rockstar Energy Drink, Contraluz Cristalino Mezcal and Arrowhead Water.

The couple also shared with Feinberg how and why they approached the subject of addiction in the documentary when both Downey Jr. and his father both struggled with substance abuse in their lives. “It’s incomplete if you don’t,” says Iron Man star. “I also hate puff pastry. There are a lot of examples of it right now where people are trying to get their stories out there. I’m not going to give an example, but there’s so much that makes you feel that way, it’s just bullshit.”

Feinberg then asked Susan Downey about the coincidence that both of Downey’s men changed their lives by having relationships with women who had a major impact on their lives. She replied, “If anyone has ever dealt with someone with an addiction, you know it has nothing to do with the other person. “They have to be ready. If you can be a small part of creating an alternative world for them to say, ‘Hey, I’m here. If you’re clean, great.’ But I’m not going to take any credit other than basically saying, ‘This is what I need to happen’, or more importantly, ‘It can’t happen.’ But it’s totally that person.

Referring to a similar discussion they had together, Downey Jr. called it “the clearest conversation I’ve ever had in my life.”

Returning to the documentary, Downey Jr. also said that for most of the production, he forgot the camera was rolling. “I didn’t even know if this was going to come out so I didn’t think about it the way you wanted, you better make sure the damn beanie you’re wearing looks right. about you [head]. I hadn’t thought of any of this, he admitted.

Robert Downey Sr.  and Robert Downey Jr.  in Sr.

From left: Robert Downey Sr. and Robert Downey Jr. in Sr.

Courtesy of Netflix

He had a list of questions in mind that he wanted answered by his father before he passed away. But as viewers can see in the document, not all of that is answered in the final scene the two men share, which is just the last time they’ll be together.

He said of the scene: “It was really raw. “Even standing back watching it 40 minutes ago, I was like, ‘God.’ I’m still working on it but it’s a luxury to have something like that documented as a standard to keep going back and thinking about.”

He was even grateful for the unanswered questions. “I’m not saying Chris is happy that things turned out this way but it’s much more like real life. We don’t get the answers we want when we want them. This is not a Disney+ thing going on here. This is a real life. Everything is inconclusive. Everything is unfinished. There’s a lot of uncertainty and you have to make peace with that.”




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