Robert Downey Jr. was not only inspired by the Iron Man comics to bring Tony Stark to life, since behind the Marvel billionaire was the personality of Elon Musk
Genius, playboy, philanthropist and millionaire, this is how Tony Stark is described in Avengers, a charismatic character who appeared since 2008 as the protagonist of Iron Man. But part of that personality that Robert Downey Jr. imprinted on Tony Stark was inspired by another personality real life Elon Musk.
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Ashlee Vance, author of the book Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, shared on her LinkedIn social network profile some excerpts from her book, in which she tells how Robert Downey Jr. ate with Elon Musk .
“Downey heard some rumors about a Hughes-like figure named Elon Musk who had built his own modern industrial complex about ten miles away. Instead of visualizing what Hughes’s life might have been like, Downey could perhaps get a taste of reality. He left in March 2007 for SpaceX headquarters in El Segundo and ended up getting a personal tour from Musk. ‘My mind is not easily blown, but this place and this guy were amazing,’ Downey said”.
Vance pointed out that the visit to the facilities of SpaceX, one of Musk’s companies, was the watershed to work on his impersonation as Tony Stark.
“After the initial tour, Downey was pleased that the sets being made at the Hughes factory had parallels to the SpaceX factory… Both Musk and Stark were the kind of men, according to Downey, who “had taken an idea to live and something to do” and they were not going to waste a moment”.
Elon Musk in the Iron Man movies
Downey not only took aspects of Musk’s personality for his performance as Tony Stark, the Oscar nominee for Best Actor asked Jon Favreau for details to make his performance more believable.
“When he got back to the Iron Man production office, Downey asked Favreau to make sure he put a Tesla Roadster in Tony Stark’s shop… This would symbolize that Stark was so cool and connected that he could buy a Roadster before he died. went on sale”.
After the premiere of Iron Man in 2008, Jon Favreau revealed the inspiration that Elon Musk gave to Tony Stark, which began to put the businessman in the spotlight of public life.
“Musk isn’t exactly the kind of guy who drinks whiskey in the back of a Humvee while on a military convoy in Afghanistan. But the press applauded the comparison and Musk began to become a public figure… Musk enjoyed his growing profile. He fed his ego and gave him some fun”.
In 2009, for the filming of Iron Man 2, Elon Musk makes a cameo in the scene where Tony Stark arrives at the Monaco Grand Prix.
You can also read: Why did Elon Musk stop building his house as Iron Man?
Source: LinkedIn
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