Chapter 1563: Mr. Stark

The efficiency of Hollywood was undoubtedly quite high. Even Zhao Fusheng had to admit that China still had a long way to go if it wanted to surpass Hollywood.

The crew of Iron Man had officially begun assembling and was recruiting actors nationwide across the United States.

Unexpectedly, the first role to be confirmed was not the male lead, but the male supporting role, which was the villain.

The CEO of Stark Industries, who stirred up trouble at Stark Munitions Company while Tony was kidnapped, using every trick in the book. The scheming Stane finally seized power and wanted to claim the Iron Man armor for himself. With the help of a group of scientists, he eventually put the armor on himself.

Looking at the character introduction, Zhao Fusheng blinked, raised his head, and looked at Wu Sijie: "Do you think this actor named Jeff Bridges is suitable?"

Wu Sijie shook his head: "I don't know."

He paused, then hesitated: "But four hundred and fifty thousand US dollars seems a bit expensive. He doesn't seem very famous."

After all, in his impression, spending over thirty million RMB should at least get a big-name actor. An unknown villain in a supporting role demanding over four million US dollars in salary was simply a joke!

Zhao Fusheng laughed: "Salaries in Hollywood are generally high. Do you think it's like back home?"

He knew more about this than Wu Sijie. Compared to China, Hollywood salaries were undoubtedly much higher. Moreover, this was still reasonable. To think, ten years later, some Hollywood movies would have lead actors earning over one hundred million US dollars.

That was real big-budget production!

"Don't worry too much." Zhao Fusheng looked at Wu Sijie seriously: "Ye Jing will be here soon. When he arrives, introduce him to Kevin Feige, got it?"

Wu Sijie nodded: "Got it."

As Zhao Fusheng's assistant, he naturally understood that the boss's will was his work goal. Since Zhao Fusheng had said not to interfere with the preparation of the Iron Man crew, he wouldn't speak out of turn. But Wu Sijie would still report all the information he could gather to Zhao Fusheng.

"Alright, help me gather some recent information on Facebook and Twitter."

Zhao Fusheng said to Wu Sijie: "I won't be staying here long. We need to return home before the Spring Festival."

He was the kind of particularly traditional Chinese person. With the New Year approaching, Zhao Fusheng didn't want to spend it in the United States.

Wu Sijie went off to do as Zhao Fusheng instructed, while Zhao Fusheng sat in the room, beginning to recall the Iron Man movie he had seen.

Although he had stated he wouldn't interfere with the film, Zhao Fusheng still kept an eye on it. If anything differed from what he knew, he would intervene without hesitation.

"That Downey guy, why hasn't he shown up yet!"

Zhao Fusheng sat there, muttering to himself.

The Downey he referred to was naturally the lead actor of the original Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr.

Though not a fan of Marvel movies, having lived in that era of entertainment explosion, Zhao Fusheng was familiar with several Marvel films. The ones that left the deepest impression on him were Black Widow and Iron Man.

The latter, undoubtedly, left an even stronger impression.

Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Iron Man perfectly captured the rebelliousness and strong sense of justice in Tony Stark's character. Without exaggeration, among the Avengers, Iron Man was undoubtedly one of the most standout roles.

For this Iron Man, Zhao Fusheng naturally hoped to follow history and still have him play the role.

But unfortunately, it seemed Robert Downey Jr. hadn't received the news. There was no word from Marvel about him requesting an audition, which left Zhao Fusheng somewhat frustrated.

...

...

Perhaps Zhao Fusheng's muttering had somehow given someone strength. Three days later, news came from Marvel that Kevin Feige wanted Zhao Fusheng to meet someone.

"Zhao, I really hope you can meet this person," Kevin Feige said quite sincerely over the phone.

Though a bit puzzled, Zhao Fusheng nodded and agreed.

When he met Kevin Feige, the latter handed him a file.

"Take a look at this..."

Kevin Feige said to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng was startled, took the file, and began to read.

The moment he glanced at it, his expression became interesting.

Because it was actually Robert Downey Jr.'s resume.

No, it was more detailed than a resume.

Robert Downey Jr., born in New York in the 1960s, his father was a somewhat famous director, Robert Downey Sr., and his mother was also an actress.

Born into a film family, while other kids were still rolling in the mud, little Robert Downey Jr., relying on his father's recommendation letter, successfully enrolled in the most famous Stagedoor Manor performing arts summer camp at the time, receiving intensive training in acting, dance, and vocal skills.

Soon, he became a somewhat famous child star.

Influenced by his family, he believed more in "acting is honed through practice," so he dropped out of high school before graduating and went to Los Angeles.

While working odd jobs, he desperately sought opportunities to make a name in Hollywood, and finally, thanks to his outstanding looks and his father's bit of fame, he was discovered by a talent scout.

Robert Downey Jr. initially mainly acted in youth films and comedies, such as "Firstborn" and "The Pick-up Artist." In these films, he often appeared as a cynical teenager, which also matched the impression he gave audiences at the time.

"Early success" and "sharp-edged" were the words the media used to describe him, and a person evolving from a child star and celebrity offspring into a Hollywood star attracting worldwide attention was something the public enjoyed seeing.

But in an instant, he destroyed everything he had painstakingly built.

Drug use, imprisonment, divorce—falling from the peak to the bottom.

The family environment where one parent acted and the other directed gave little Robert Downey Jr. the seeds and favorable conditions for his acting dreams to sprout, but it also brought the glitz and debauchery of the circle too early before this innocent, naive child.

When little Robert Downey Jr. was only eight years old, he took the marijuana joint his father handed him and began to accompany addiction.

Starting from the 1990s, the guy kept being associated with the word "drugs." At the most outrageous point, he even sped and then broke into a neighbor's house to sleep.

Even in court, he showed no remorse for what he had done, with expressions and body language full of contempt.

For this, he divorced his first wife, and several times he was arrested for drug use while in the middle of filming, leaving a huge mess for the production companies.

Over time, directors and producers kept their distance from him.

At the turn of the millennium, Robert Downey Jr. was released from prison, but he was no longer as glamorous as before—his wife and child were gone, he was heavily in debt, and he even fell into a state of not knowing where his next meal would come from. He desperately needed work opportunities, but he didn't have much room to choose scripts.

It was under such circumstances that the TV series "Ally McBeal" came knocking. In the show, he, full of survival instinct, indeed delivered brilliant acting. Happily, his outstanding performance in this TV series won him the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards and the 58th Golden Globe Awards.

Then, the guy started relapsing, seemingly on the verge of total ruin.

Until he met his second wife, Susan.

She knew about his dark past. Although she initially rejected the man who was much older, dabbled in drugs, and had been divorced, she couldn't resist his good looks, gentleness, thoughtfulness, and humor.

The two quickly entered a passionate romantic relationship.

And at that moment, Susan told Robert Downey Jr. that since he was with her, he had to work hard and strive upward, and not touch any of the vices like gambling, drugs, or prostitution.

"Drugs or me, you choose one."

Facing his lover's ultimatum, Robert Downey Jr. hardened his heart. He took his carefully collected "treasures," drove to the seaside, and threw them all into the sea. With that toss, he also threw away his broken, dark past. From then on, Robert Downey Jr.'s life underwent a qualitative change.

In recent years, Robert Downey Jr.'s reputation in Hollywood has turned around quite a bit.

And now, he had set his sights on the lead role in Marvel's "Iron Man" and submitted his resume.

"This guy, isn't his experience a bit too rich?"

In his previous life, Zhao Fusheng didn't know that Robert Downey Jr. had such a complicated life experience. After reading the materials, he said to Kevin Feige with some surprise.

"You don't know him?"

Kevin Feige asked, somewhat surprised.

Zhao Fusheng thought to himself, I knew him in my previous life, but of course not in this life.

With an innocent smile on his face, Zhao Fusheng nodded: "No, I don't. Is he very famous?"

Kevin Feige laughed: "He certainly has fame, but this guy's reputation was very bad before. You've seen the materials. I didn't expect him to be interested in the role of Stark either."

"I see."

Zhao Fusheng shrugged: "Since that's the case, why did you want me to meet him?"

"It was Sean."

Kevin Feige said to Zhao Fusheng: "He thinks this guy is more suitable for the role of Tony Stark than Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio."

Jon Favreau?

Zhao Fusheng was somewhat surprised. He didn't expect that it was he who suggested he meet Robert Downey Jr., and he actually thought Robert Downey Jr. was more suitable for the role of Tony Stark than those two Oscar winners.

Interesting!

Zhao Fusheng gave Kevin Feige a deep look but didn't speak immediately.

What a joke, did this guy take him for an idiot? Only a fool would believe such an obvious lie!