Robert Downey Jr. has worked extremely hard throughout his career. Whether it was within the Marvel Cinematic Universe or outside of it, he has given his all without a second thought. His latest performance in Oppenheimer has made fans absolutely determined on how he deserves an Oscar. One question that is often asked of actors who play the roles of superheroes or any other character that has a rather buff body is about their diet.
The actor’s transformation from Iron Man to Iron Man 2 raised a lot of eyebrows because of how bulkier he had gotten. Actors have often been accused of using steroids to gain muscle mass for their roles. From Sylvester Stallone to Hugh Jackman, every actor has faced that and Downey was no different. However, those rumors also got debunked.
Robert Downey Jr Wanted A More Exciting Routine
Robert Downey Jr’s trainer Brad Bose gave some secrets about how the actor prepared for his iconic role. He confirmed that when he was first cast as Tony Stark, he had enough time to train and gain weight gradually, adding about four months’ worth of workout easily. However, the second movie had problems regarding that matter.
“After [the first routine], Robert felt kind of bored with it and wanted to something a little more exciting… so we decided to do what I call a Rocky IV meets high-tech training.”
For the sequel, the actor had just worked on Sherlock Holmes, meaning that he was much underweight in terms of playing Iron Man. He admitted that the actor had gotten bored of his previous routine and wanted something new and fun instead. Downey ended up gaining 20 pounds in a matter of a short time. This weight gain happened in a matter of couple weeks when the filming had already begun for the film.
Robert Downey Jr Used Different Methods To Work Out
Brad Bose worked in unison with Robert Downey Jr, trying to understand exactly what he needed to get back into shape for the role. They used bamboo bars instead of bench pressing and even used custom wheelbarrows with 600-700lbs of weight.
“We went out and bought truck tires, and we used sledgehammers — anywhere from, two 4-lb. sledgehammers in each hand, all the way up to a full 20-lb. sledgehammer — and we were just beating tires with it. We used fire hoses that we filled with sand and water… and we’d drag and whip them to build the shoulder muscles and pecs back up.”
There was an entire makeshift gym working with rubber bands and truck tires and whatnot. It is safe to say that the actor enjoyed it heavily. This kept going on until the entire transformation shocked the world.
Source: Us Magazine
