Robert Downey Jr. has had to overcome fear and self-doubt in order to rise to the challenge of portraying Charlie Chaplin in Charlie, a new film biography of the comic genious. He might have been nervous, but everyone who’s seen him in the role, including Movie Extra’s Lynda Leftwich, says he’s magnificent.
Robert Downey Jr. is currently filming the movie of his career. Usually a wisecracking, glib 26-year-old, he is now facing up to a major test of his artistic mettle. Handpicked by famous director Sir Richard Attenborough to play Charlie Chaplin in his new epic, Charlie, Downey seems overwhelmed by this enormous challenge.
Robert Downey Jr.'s first success came in the film Less Than Zero, with James Spader, where he played a drug addicted rich kid. He's also been praised for his work in films like Chances Are with Cybill Shepherd, True Believer with James Woods and Air America with Mel Gibson. But his witty role in Soapdish and now his ultimate acting challenge in Charlie have really put him back on track, as well as showing us his versatility.
Obviously tired from weeks of night shoots, strung out on nervous energy, Robert Downey Jr. sits on the floor in a suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel and lights another cigarette as he talks about his two current heroes, Charlie Chaplin and Sir Richard Attenborough (who he affectionately calls Dickie).
"Dickie and I met a couple of times, and then I tried out for it," says Robert about landing the coveted part. "I thought that maybe it could happen, but I didn't know. Some people who were close to me came along to lend support, but when Dickie came up to me to tell me I had the part I was stunned. I started crying. It was probably the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me."
Robert admits this is definitely the biggest challenge he's ever had as an actor. He also feels that he's had to learn a lot about himself to actually meet the demands of his director and do justice to the part.
"I'm basically lazy as a person, and Hollywood hasn't offered me a lot of opportunities to get wildly excited about and really want to get going on. So the way I've changed myself is that I've gotten in touch with that real dogged aspect of myself. Maybe you go bitching and moaning the whole way, but nevertheless it's been a real challenge as far as 'Are You Going To Show Up For This Role?'. That's been the thing."
Sir Richard Altenborough, himself a renowned actor and director for the last 50 years, has much more confidence in Robert, saying that he felt the same way about Robert as he did when he cast the relatively unknown Ben Kingsley in the lead role in Ghandi. For Charlie he needed someone who was handsome, graceful, athletic and was the right height and the right age to play 'The Little Tramp'.
Downey more than filled the bill. "I have really..." cries the actor, "been beaten, broken and rebuilt, and then disassembled again for the weekend. Like, 'You don't even stand right Robert, but that's okay. Let's have lunch."'
It was important to portray the little tramp accurately but, as the actual 'impersonation' of his movie performances only takes place for about 10 percent of the film, the most important thing, according to Sir Richard, is the man behind the legend - and they are being very sensitive in their portrayal of that man.
Robert researched Chaplin for over a year before filming commenced, and was given an extra confidence boost by gaining the approval of Charlie Chaplin's actress, daughter, Geraldine Chaplin, who gets to play her own grandmother and Charlie's mum, Hannah, in the film.
Geraldine is Charlie Chaplin's daughter by his last wife, Oona, and when Sir Richard showed her the rushes of Robert's performance she was awestruck. She wouldn't have believed that anyone could have convinced her with such an accurate portrayal of her father. And Robert was equally impressed with Geraldine after they rehearsed their first scene together.
"All know is that there is something about these darn Chaplins," explains the actor. "I've met quite a few of them, and I'm just so amazed that they have this real kind of presence. It's in their faces, it's the way they look ...they're all Chaplins!”
Other key players in Charlie are Dan Aykroyd, who plays Mack Sennett, founder of the Keystone Cops and the man responsible for bringing Chaplin to Hollywood. Milla Jovovich, the teenage supermodel turned actress plays Mildred Harris, Charlie's child bride. And Kevin Kline will play a cameo as the swashbuckling silent movie sex symbol Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin's best friend.
Charlie Chaplin, who never became an American citizen, was exiled from Hollywood for 20 years until his adoring public and an honour from the Motion Picture Academy overwhelmingly demanded his return to accept an Oscar for his mammoth contribution to cinema. Robert says: "I think my responsibility to this film is to myself and to my experience of it, to Attenborough and his faith in me and to the Chaplin family. It is really important to me that their father be portrayed correctly. He is creative royalty. He was like the James Brown of film, he was so hard working."
There are, amazingly, same strange coincidences between the life of Robert Downey Jr. and the silent screen hero he is portraying. They both started acting at the age of five, and both are known for their passion for music. But perhaps the strangest coincidence is that Robert bought a house that had once belonged to Charlie Chaplin just a few years ago. The pink art deco house was designed by one of Cecil B. De Mille's set designers.
Downey, who believes that there is meaning to all these things, says, "I have a feeling that a large part of my lessons in life are to be derived from my experiences on this film. If there is any role model that I could ever have had on this planet for the kind of work or the general kind of energy I would like to work with - it's him."
He feels, without doubt, that this is the role he's been waiting to play all his life. "I feel confident, and I think this is a really good movie - and I never, ever, felt that about anything else I've worked on before."