Robert Downey Jr has spoken about his ‘blackface’ portrayal in the 2008 comedy, Tropic Thunder. The film was directed by Ben Stiller and sees its main characters star in a Vietnam War movie, set in the jungle, that they are then forced to survive in. Downey Jr’s character, Kirk Lazarus, is an Australian method actor who underwent “pigmentation alteration” surgery to temporarily darken his skin for his portrayal of a black character.
In a recent interview on Rob Lowe’s Literally! podcast, the actor claimed the film was a “railing against all of these tropes that are not right and [that] had been perpetuated for too long”. Downey Jr is not new to the subject and addressed it in 2020, admitting he had a “bad feeling” about the backlash the film could provoke but added it was done to “hold up to nature the insane self-involved hypocrisy of artists and what they think they’re allowed to do on occasion”.
His defence of the depiction comes after Marvel Studios head, Kevin Feige, put an end to rumours about Downey Jr.’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Feige confirmed to fans that his character, Iron Man, was not going to be resurrected. Downey Jr’s recent appearance was in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and he most recently gave an interview on the Laugh Out Loud SiriusXM show hosted by Kevin Hart where he openly talked about mental health and addiction.
While some have defended the use of ‘blackface’ in Tropic Thunder, others have criticised the portrayal. There have also been reports of some theatres staging protests and even asking for the film to be taken down. The issue of ‘blackface’ depictions and portrayals of minorities in films has been at the forefront of discussions in recent years and has garnered media attention, with popular stars being called out for their past work, including Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman
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