Robert Downey Jr. in “Blackface”?
Robert Downey, Jr. has been cast to portray a black male in a Ben Stiller movie entitled “Tropic Thunder”. I haven’t come across a clip of a trailer yet, but I am a huge Ben Stiller fan (Zoolander is my ish!) and I’m hoping this doesn’t cross the line. Seems doubtful that they will be able to pull it off without a ton of backlash…but it’ll be interesting to find out.
“If it’s done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago,” Downey said. “If you don’t do it right, we’re going to hell.”
The studio plans to debut the trailer online March 17. In one scene, Lazarus tries to bond with a real African-American cast mate by quoting the theme song from “The Jeffersons.” (Source)
The E-Biz
March 10, 2008 @ 7:15 amThis is why me and Eurweb sometimes have a problem they leave out those pesky little “important details”. Gotta LOVE the media! We are horrible!!
Robert “Downey Jr. plays overly committed actor Kirk Lazarus, a white man cast to play a black soldier in a satire of the performing profession. The film also stars Jack Black and Ben Stiller, who co-wrote, directed and produced it.
“If it’s done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago,” Downey told Entertainment Weekly magazine. “If you don’t do it right, we’re going to hell.”
Stiller said he was “trying to push it as far as you can within reality,” with the intent of satirizing over-the-top actors, not African-Americans.”
http://cbs2chicago.com/national/robert.downey.jr.2.672523.html
LJS
May 23, 2008 @ 8:59 amIf anyone can pull this off and make it right, it’s Robert Downey Jr. He is awesome!