By Trisha Tucker

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - No matter the movie, Robert Downey Jr. is incapable of turning in an uninteresting performance.


While his films -- most recently "Charlie Bartlett" and "Zodiac" -- haven't always found large audiences, the May 2 Paramount Pictures release "Iron Man" promises to connect Downey with the masses.

Downey, 42, recently chatted about comic-book movies, working out and action figures.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHEN YOU THINK OF ROBERT DOWNEY JR.

THE ACTOR, "ACTION HERO" ISN'T THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO

MIND. WHAT DREW YOU TO "IRON MAN?"

Robert Downey Jr.: (Jon) Favreau was directing it. And when I went (to the Marvel headquarters) to meet with ... all the bigwigs there, I walked down the halls and saw certain of my peers in all these big, crazy, cool posters and stuff, and I'm like, "This has got to be fun." Plus, no one who was in a really successful superhero franchise has ever said to me, "Boy, I really wish I hadn't done that."

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: WHAT KIND OF PHYSICAL TRAINING

PROCESS DID YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH TO PLAY TONY STARK (THE

BRILLIANT INVENTORS WHOSE SUIT OF ARMOR MAKES HIM INVINCIBLE)?

Downey: My job was just to get in shape like I was in my mid-20s, which was kind of hilarious and also pretty effective. I've done martial arts for years, so I knew I could get in shape without injuring myself. The point of the story is that (Stark) puts on a suit, and this suit gives him this power that he didn't have access to before, so I didn't want to get all huge. But I also didn't want to look like a schlub. So I worked my ass off, and then the three or four days where I was supposed to look like I was in shape, I pretty much ended up looking that way. It was probably 1,500 hours of effort for 11 seconds of screen time.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HAVE YOU SEEN YOUR "IRON MAN"

ACTION FIGURE YET?

Downey: I have. It looks pretty good. We actually had an "Iron Man" mask on top of our Christmas tree this year. I'm not worshiping false idols -- it was almost more like the reason we were having a good Christmas. He was kind of like the patron saint of there being big boxes under the tree. For reasons that shouldn't be too difficult to calculate, I'm incredibly grateful to have the opportunities that I do. It doesn't take much for me to be stoked.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
© Copyright 2007 Reuters.

Photo:
Robert Downey Jr. attends the premiere of 'Zodiac' at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California, March 1, 2007. The movie opens in the U.S. March 2. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni