Heartened as he is by the blogosphere's embrace of his forthcoming Iron Man (opening May 2), Robert Downey Jr. isn't prepared to commit to a complete career reinvention as an action badass. That's what EW.com learned when we caught up with the actor at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas last week. There, Downey accepted the Male Star of the Year award and kibbitzed with Ben Stiller while presenting footage from their August comedy Tropic Thunder, in which Downey portrays an actor who dyes his skin in order to play an African American. He also took a moment to respond to our query: Do these back-to-back gigs in a comic-book thriller and a Vietnam War sendup mean that the star of significantly quieter fare like Chaplin, Restoration, and Two Girls and a Guy is about to go all Nicolas Cage on us and appear in nothing but Jerry Bruckheimer explosion-fests from now on? "Mmmm, you mean Nicolas Cage, who also in the middle of all of that did The Weather Man, [Gore] Verbinski's greatest movie?" Downey replied, without missing a beat. "And Matchstick Men! That's so great. Here's what I would say: You know, I'm in my early 40s and it's kind of great to have this whole area of expression and excitement now — I probably won't burn out until I'm at least 50 now."

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/

Downey is a really good actor, I just hope this time he's kicked his demons for good. I was really disappointed when he relapsed during Ally McBeal, because he gave the show new life after Billy died and Georgia left, and then he got hooked again and took the show down with him as well

I wish him well, it's good to see him achieving success and I hope he kicked the habit for good. I've been a fan since he was in First Born.

I'm a fan of his, I wish him the best :)

Judging by the trailers, Iron Man looks pretty cool, and I am looking forward to seeing it.

Hopefully it will be a big hit, and there will be more movies.

Downey had all the potential to have the kind of career like that of Johnny Depp.

And if not for his addiction I think that he would have had at least one or two more Oscar nominations (his one being for Chaplin).

Downey had all the potential to have the kind of career like that of Johnny Depp.

And if not for his addiction I think that he would have had at least one or two more Oscar nominations (his one being for Chaplin).


He was amazing in Chaplin.

Robert Downey Jr. has had his share of trouble, but he deserves a chance to shine. I hope that Iron Man not only opens the gates for him to have a lucrative movie franchise, but gives him more work in other films, like Johnny Depp, who is now balancing his big blockbuster films with other roles that allow him to express his talent.

i cant wait for this movie to come out.. And i think that RDJ is a perfect choice for Tony Stark.. i dunno i feel like he can pull off the whole charismatic millionaire playboy turned action hero really well.. Also, fyi, found this "Be Tony Stark" (http://www.ironman.vh1.com/)contest that looks really cool, the prize pack looks amazing and it definitely looks like something die hard fans would be really interested in..

not to mention he looks in pretty good shape for the role