While the RDJ blackface didn't receive major backlash, Tropic Thunder faced controversy for its portrayal of a differently abled character and the use of a derogatory slur, highlighting the narrow line between poignancy and offensiveness.
Downey, who is Jewish, asked Hollywood to join him in “forgiving my friend his trespasses, offering [Gibson] the same clean slate you have given me, and allowing him to continue his great and ongoing contribution to our collective art without shame.”
He exclaimed on Twitter: “I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder. Don't know who told you that. It's always been a controversial movie since when we opened. Proud of it and the work everyone did on it”.
Opening up about Cruise's role in an Esquire interview, director Stiller revealed that it was actually his friend's idea to play Les. “Tom Cruise had the idea to play Les Grossman in the movie,” Stiller says. “That part did not exist.
Robert Downey Jr. and Danny McBride in 'Tropic Thunder'. Downey played Kirk Lazarus, a white Australian actor whose preposterous commitment to his craft leads him to don Blackface for the movie-within-the-movie Tropic Thunder.
For the fake trailer "Satan's Alley", Tobey Maguire came in at the very last minute to film the role of Robert Downey Jr.'s monk lover. He did it as a personal favor for Ben Stiller and Downey, his Wonder Boys (2000) co-star.
Kirk Lazarus: I know who I am. I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude! Kirk Lazarus: Same thing happened to me when I played Neil Armstrong in Moonshot.
Did Tom Cruise wear prosthetic hands in Tropic Thunder?
Stiller said that in addition to the more obvious make-up effects applied to Cruise's face and head, and the extra hair on his chest and arms, Cruise also decided to play the character wearing oversized prosthetic hands.
Kevin Hart was approached to play the role of Alpa Chino, a closeted homosexual and rapper, in Tropic Thunder, but he turned it down saying that Alpa's character was "real flagrant." He has since pointed out that he will never accept a role where he has to kiss another man.
At the time of its release, disability advocacy groups protested the film over a running gag involving Stiller's character having played an intellectually disabled person in a shameless Oscar grab. As Stiller alluded to in his tweet, he and his collaborators have long defended the film as a satire.
Did Robert Downey Jr. wear blackface in Tropic Thunder?
While Tropic Thunder hasn't been pulled from distribution because of Robert Downey Jr.'s blackface, it's fair to say that it wasn't universally accepted as appropriate.
His father, Robert Downey Sr., was a filmmaker, while his mother, Elsie Ann (née Ford), was an actress who appeared in Downey Sr.'s films. Downey's father was one-half Lithuanian Jewish, one-quarter Hungarian Jewish, and one-quarter Irish descent, while Downey's mother had Scottish, German, and Swiss ancestry.
The over-the-top action sequences and absurd situations parody the clichés often found in war films, creating a comedic commentary on the genre. "Tropic Thunder" also benefits from its supporting cast, including Tom Cruise in an unrecognizable and hilarious role as the eccentric studio executive Les Grossman.
“We always had this kind of seesaw thing, where if he was on the wagon, I was falling off, and if I was on the wagon, he was falling off,” Gibson continued. While he and Downey Jr. have remained sober for years, they remain close and continue to be emotionally supportive of each other.
later thanked his longtime friend in his speech at the 25th American Cinematheque Awards. “I asked Mel to present this award for me for a reason,” he said. “When I couldn't get sober, he told me not to give up hope and encouraged me to find my faith.
Stiller and Cruise worked together to create the new character, Les Grossman, as a middle-aged businessman. The role required that Cruise don a fatsuit, large prosthetic hands, and a bald cap.
In Tropic Thunder, Robert Downey Jr played the role of Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor who had had a “pigmentation alteration” surgery to permanently darken his face. He did that in order to play a black character in a war film on the Vietnam War.
Tom Cruise's dance scene in Tropic Thunder was a hit. Here's how he trained for it: - 🕺🏻 He worked with a choreographer for weeks to perfect the moves.
Tropic Thunder is a 2008 film starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film when their fed-up writer and director decide to abandon them in the middle of the jungle, forcing them to fight their way out.
It's said that Stiller got the idea for Tropic Thunder while he was shooting Empire of the Sun (1987) and became aware of how "self-important" some actors considered themselves to be when they were attending fake boot camps in order to prepare for war film roles.
He starred in numerous off Broadway plays before his feature film career began. Justin's film career includes work both in front of and behind the camera as writer, director & actor. He has written on several high-profile films such as Iron Man 2, Tropic Thunder, and Rock of Ages.
