10 Exact Moments Actors Thought They Were Finished
3. Robert Downey Jr. Thought He Was Going To Bury Himself With Tropic Thunder
On the back of reigniting his career with a game-changing performance as Tony Stark in 2008's Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. was arguably one of the most in-demand actors on planet Earth.
So, how did the revived star choose to follow up that early MCU entry? With a character and movie that he felt held the potential to undo all of the good will that he'd just generated with his much-loved Marvel outing.
Or at least, that's how RDJ himself saw it, with the actor eventually noting to LA Times that after agreeing to appear in Tropic Thunder before Iron Man ultimately went on to be a massive success, he quickly thought "I just buried myself."
By playing the role of a white actor trying to portray a Black character throughout the comedy, the star understandably worried that he was "going to squander any good will I have."
Far from derailing his career revival in the same year it began, though, his work in Tropic Thunder as Kirk Lazarus actually led to a surprising Oscar nomination for RDJ. And Downey would eventually go on to become one of the highest grossing actors of all time.