Robert Downey Jr Was Once Willing To Quit Marvel Over Remuneration Of His Fellow Cast Members
Robert Downey Jr is a man with a heart of gold. He has always been supportive to his friends and co-stars. When Mark Ruffalo wasn't sure whether he should play The Hulk, he convinced him to take it up even predicting it'll be a role of a lifetime. When he felt humiliated wearing a man-cancelling suit, RDJ was very supportive during the whole time.
But did you know he once threatened to quit over the remuneration of his fellow cast members.
For the unversed, Avengers: Age of Ultron is one of the most expensive movies ever made. Why? Because of the paychecks of the cast members. For the first time, they got what they deserved.?
But the drama behind the scenes that led to this was very complicated.
To add some perspective, in 2013, Deadline had published a report that revealed the salaries of the cast. Robert Downey Jr, who reportedly earned around $70 million for the first Avengers movie, got $50M for this one. However, other cast members were only getting $200,000.
"Some received only $200,000 for Avengers and Downey got paid $50M. On what planet is that OK?" an insider was quoted as saying by the report.?
When the cast members demanded a better pay, Marvel threatened to sue or recast them all. Reporter Nikke Finke said, "That prompted a few cast members to respond, ¡®Go ahead.¡¯"
Finke continued, ¡°I¡¯ve learned the Avengers cast are becoming united behind Robert Downey Jr who is seen as the ¡®leader¡¯ ¨C like ¡®a big brother¡¯ in the words of one rep ¨C for all the younger actors in the ensemble.¡±?
It is said that Chris Hemsworth wasn't keen on returning after Thor 2 because of this. Even Scarlett Johansson had told that she won't cut her quote.?
Another insider noted, ¡°He¡¯s the only guy with real power in this situation. and b*lls of steel, too. He¡¯s already sent a message that he¡¯s not going to work for a place where they treat his colleagues like sh*t.¡±
When director Joss Whedon was asked about the same, he told Deadine, ¡°I¡¯m not going to comment specifically because I¡¯m not privy to that sort of stuff and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s my place to talk about. In general terms, yes ¨C Marvel can be very cheap, God knows. They can also be sensible and frugal. They have a very small infrastructure and they¡¯re not heaping this money on themselves.¡±
Chris Evans also said that Robert Downey Jr is an affable guy who helped Avengers actors find footing in standalone movies. "He really went out of his way to help us find our footing not just in the 'Avengers' films but in your own individual film franchises even when he wasn't on the set, I still felt his support."?
Meanwhile, have you watched his deleted scene from Iron Man 2 that is making fans go crazy
