Stone thoughts Downey Jr.’s antics would ruin Natural Born Killers

Robert Downey Jr. tried to work a crude sight gag into Natural Born Killers, solely irritating director Oliver Stone…who lastly relented.

Robert Downey Jr. has the facility to steal any scene he needs. Simply take one take a look at his shock SDCC look this summer season and also you get an concept of what we imply. However that is nothing new, and probably the greatest examples of that is 1994’s Natural Born Killers, during which he performed Wayne Gale, the personification of exploiting criminals to the purpose of cult standing. It’s undoubtedly one of many standout performances in Natural Born Killers (though I would choose Rodney Dangerfield’s as essentially the most memorable), however in keeping with Oliver Stone, he nearly ruined all the movie.

By most accounts, Downey Jr. was not often sober on the set of Natural Born Killers, however on one explicit day, he occurred to be fully straight. However that doesn’t imply he wouldn’t get uncontrolled to the purpose of pissing off his director. In a single occasion, he dipped his shirt tail in faux blood and pulled it by his unzipped pants, making it his personal bloody “iron man”, to which Stone responded, “Oh come on—that’s too much! You’re going too far, Robert…You’re ruining my movie! Forget the dumb dick idea. This isn’t…This isn’t some slapstick bullsh*t.” Besides, anybody who has seen Natural Born Killers is aware of simply how over-the-top it will get (even Woody Harrelson considers it a romantic comedy)…However Stone would finally meet within the center (or thereabouts…), telling Downey Jr. to drag the shirt tail again in half an inch.

When cameras rolled on Natural Born Killers, Downey Jr. was recent off of an Oscar nomination for Chaplin however nonetheless had his share of troubles occurring, telling Esquire (in a terrific new piece recounting the making of Natural Born Killers), “The only time I was awake…was between Action and Cut.” Woody Harrelson, who performed Mickey to Juliette Lewis’ Mallory, recounted, “I don’t want to say I was the moral center on this movie, but I was the one doing the least amount of drugs! Which is—it’s never happened in my career or my life. And no one’s ever done more drugs than me, but I was Mother Teresa on this one.”

Natural Born Killers celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this yr, so there’s actually no higher method to rejoice than to revisit the movie and rewatch our episode of WTF Occurred to This Film?! (we all know, it’s not about us…).

Are you a fan of Natural Born Killers? What’s the standout scene for you?