Robert Downey Jr. revealed how he and Jimmy Fallon auditioned for roles in the 2006 rom-com The Holiday, which later went to Jude Law and Jack Black, respectively.
The Oscar-nominated actor, 58, appeared on a surprise summer edition of The Howard Stern Show as part of a celebrity ensemble that included The Tonight Show host, Jon Bon Jovi, Drew Barrymore, Brooke Shields, Mary McCormack, Beth Stern and Ali Wentworth.
The Iron Man star and Fallon explained to Stern about how they had tried out for roles in the film, which also starred Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz.
Downey said he and Fallon were not expected to be cast for the film, as they ‘both got called in just as seat fillers’ to perform opposite Diaz and Winslet.
Filmmaker Nancy Meyers ‘needed someone to read with the gals and we’re sitting there going, “It’s about to happen for us,”‘ Downey said.
The latest: Robert Downey Jr., 58, revealed how he and Jimmy Fallon auditioned for roles in the 2006 rom-com The Holiday, which later went to Jude Law, 50, and Jack Black, 53, respectively. The A-lister was pictured at the Oppenheimer premiere in London last week
Downey said he felt he was a ‘shoo-in’ to get the part over the London-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 star, pictured in the film
Downey – who wound up co-starring opposite Law in 2009’s Sherlock Holmes and 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – said he felt he was a ‘shoo-in’ to get the part over the London-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 star.
‘I was like, “I’ve got to have a better English accent than Jude Law at this point,”‘ he said, adding that Winslet called Downey’s accent ‘the worst British accent I’ve ever heard.’
Downey, who plays Lewis Strauss in the upcoming film Oppenheimer, said his optimism in getting the part faded at that point.
‘I was like, “I’ll check out now, but I’m taking the gummy bears from the minibar,”‘ he said.
Fallon noted that he was in awe of Downey’s ‘mind-blowing’ acting s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s following the audition.
‘Without a doubt, this is the best actor I’ve ever sat across from and did a scene with in my entire life,’ he told Stern of his thoughts about Downey. ‘I quit the business. I never went back. That was the last time I auditioned for a role.’
Downey explained how Meyers – who has also directed films such as The Intern, It’s Complicated and The Parent Trap – told both him and Fallon they did not get the roles.
‘Nancy said to me, said to both of us at the same time, ‘It’s great, it’s just not a perfect fit,”‘ he said.
The Oscar-nominated actor, 58, appeared on a surprise summer edition of The Howard Stern Show as part of a celebrity ensemble that included Brooke Shields, Ali Wentworth, Mary McCormack, Beth Stern and Jon Bon Jovi
Fallon, seen last week in New York, noted that he was in awe of Downey’s ‘mind-blowing’ acting s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s following the audition
The Iron Man star and Fallon explained to Stern about how they had tried out for roles in the film, which also starred Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz
Diaz’s character Amanda begins a romance with Law’s character Graham in the 2006 movie
Stern told the pair, ‘That movie would have been so much better with the two of you guys.’
The premise of the film cast Winslet and Diaz and a pair of women from London and Los Angeles trading homes over the holidays.
Diaz’s character Amanda begins a romance with Law’s character Graham, while his sister Iris, played by Winslet, gets in a relationship with Miles, played by Black.
The film earned $205 million in international box office revenue, including $63 million in North America.