7. Tropic Thunder (2008) – $92 million
In this movie RDJ was cast to play Kirk Lazarus, who according to him, Lazarus is based on a combination of Russell Crowe, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Colin Farrell.
Just like his character, Downey is a method actor and stayed in character as Sgt. Osiris/Lazarus even while cameras weren’t rolling.
The character portrait by Downey is a successful Australian actor who signs on for the Tropic Thunder movie who is a 5-time Academy Award-winning actor known for being a heavily method actor.
He goes as far as to get a controversial skin procedure so that he can play an African American.
First RDJ was very reluctant to take the role because he felt wearing the make-up to look African-American was offensive, but eventually he changed his mind because he liked the script.
Story: “Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.”
