10 Actors Who Refused To Play Themselves On Screen
4. Robert Downey Jr. - Dolittle
When it was announced that Robert Downey Jr. was both producing and starring in a new Doctor Dolittle movie, speculation ran rampant over exactly how Downey would approach the material and the character.
Many theorised that we'd basically end up with a Tony Stark-esque, quip-filled rendition of Dolittle - given that Tony Stark doesn't seem much divorced from the actor's real personality - perhaps even rocking an American accent as in the 1998 Eddie Murphy-starring Dr. Dolittle.
But it soon emerged that Downey was in fact opting for a more faithful adaptation of Hugh Lofting's 1922 novel "The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle," yet rather than simply play Dolittle with a broad English accent, he decided to get a little more adventurous.
Miles away from his natural American accent, Downey fancied Dolittle as a Welshman, and so committed to a musical, mumbly Welsh twang for the part.
Both the film and Downey's performance were ridiculed - the latter especially by the Welsh! - for while the actor had certainly flung himself miles away from popular persona, the end result was deeply irritating if not totally incomprehensible.
Honestly, Iron Man-as-Doctor Dolittle probably would've been a lot better.