BY: Walker
Published 2 hours ago
Ben Stiller believes that Robert Downey Jr.’s character in Tropic Thunder would’ve gone over well if the film were made today.
Tropic Thunder, which Stiller wrote, acted in, and directed, is a satirical action comedy that followed a group of actors making a big-budget Vietnam war film, and due to a series of events are forced to use their acting skills to survive actual dangerous situations that they find themselves in.
The satirical action comedy film starred Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Brandon T Jackson, Bill Hader, Steve Coogan, and featured a number of actors and celebrities who play themselves, and ridiculed prestigious war films, method acting, and the Hollywood studio system.
In an interview, Stiller explained that he doubted the current environment was suitable for “edgier comedy” like Tropic Thunder.
“I doubt it. Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do. Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business,” Stiller told Collider, responding to a question about whether Tropic Thunder could get made in 2024.
“I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. He read it and was like, ‘Alright, let’s make this thing.’ It’s a very inside movie when you think about it.
The Royal Tenenbaums star pointed to Downey Jr’s character Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor and five-time Academy Award winner, who got himself a controversial “pigmentation alteration” surgery so he could play a black soldier in the film.
“But yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who’s playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too. The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on — actors trying to do anything to win awards. But now, in this environment, I don’t even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I’m being honest.”
Last year, Stiller responded to a fan on X who asked the actor to “stop apologizing for doing this movie”.
“I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder,” the actor wrote. “Don’t know who told you that. It’s always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work that everyone did on it.”
Downey Jr’s portrayal of the character has received some criticism over the years, but the actor, who won a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for the role, has defended the use of blackface in the film before.
via: The Independent
