There’s a great quote from Tom Holland about his experience working alongside Robert Downey Jr. for Spider-Man: Homecoming.
In a nutshell, the young Holland hails Downey Jr. as the perfect role model for actors, what with his tireless work ethic and polite, humble demeanor. That’s not a sentence you would have stumbled upon 20 years ago, when RDJ was in and out of prison for drug possession and other offenses.
It’s a credit to Robert Downey Jr., then, that the Hollywood mainstay was able to turn things around – so much so, in fact, that by 2008, he was chosen to be the beating heart of Marvel’s embryonic cinematic universe. And the rest is history.
Indeed, fast forward to now, and on the eve of Avengers: Infinity War, co-star Chris Evans has heaped yet more praise on Downey Jr., whose selfless attitude and kindness allowed him to find his feet upon joining the MCU as Captain America.
Robert has really been incredibly thoughtful in his care of the other actors, me especially. In the beginning of this franchise, I was really nervous, but he extended his kindness and warmth and helped pick me up in a lot of ways and gave me confidence and direction and support.
Evans continued:
He is an incredibly giving actor, and he is so complimentary even though I don’t always deserve it. I really would have been lost had he not been on this movie. He really is the patriarch. He is the one running the show, and that really came to life on this movie more than the other films. There were so many actors in and out every day, and he really went out of his way to make sure everyone felt welcome, especially the people who don’t have their own franchises or have smaller roles in different movies.
Both Evans and RDJ will be back on our screens very soon thanks to the imminent release of Avengers: Infinity War (April 27th), and we have reason to believe that Cap and Iron Man won’t see eye to eye – at least not at first, what with the whole Civil War ordeal to consider.