Imagine doing a huge, life-consuming job for a decade, and then it just… ends. And you’re done. Free to do whatever you want, because in this hypothetical you’re Robert Downey, Jr. and you have that kind of freedom. What comes next?
That question has apparently been on Downey, Jr.’s mind a lot, if his extensive, heartfelt interview with Sam Jones on Off Camera with Sam Jones is any indication. Jones is an effective interviewer, bringing out a high level of sincerity and confessional thinking in his subjects, and RDJ uses the opportunity to reflect on his post-Endgame, post-Marvel life. (Yes, post-Marvel, this twist is officially out of the bag, come on, y’all.)
In one interesting clip posted to YouTube, he talks about the effort that goes into imagining his future, and how he has to separate himself from his accomplishments and the pressure put on him in order to find a way forward.
“It’s the closest I’ll ever come to being a trust-fund kid,” Downey says of his work in the MCU, referring to its reliability and ease of success. He goes on to reflect on what that absence now means in his life, saying:
It’s always good to get ahead of where you are about to be. If you put eyes on ‘that’s going to be a big turn down there, spring of ‘19,’ I better start psychically getting on top of that… It’s always in the transitions between one phase and the next phase that people fall apart.
I’m always fascinated by the human experience of something like the Disney Blockbuster machine — the experience of actors and creators who go through that massive machine and come out the other side. This conversation with arguably the biggest star of the MCU is definitely one of the best looks at that experience we’ve ever gotten.
I really recommend checking out the clips on YouTube.