Iron Man (film) - Cast

Cast

• Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man
  An industrialist, genius inventor, and consummate playboy, he is CEO of Stark Industries, a chief weapons manufacturer for the U.S. military. The son of a Manhattan Project engineer, Howard Stark, he is an engineering prodigy, having built a circuit board at four years old and an engine at six, as well as graduating summa cum laude from Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 17. He takes charge of Stark Industries at the age of 21 from Stane, who had been in control of the company since Howard's death. Favreau had planned to cast a newcomer in the role, but ultimately chose Downey (a fan of the comic) because he felt the actor's past made him an appropriate choice for the part. "The best and worst moments of Robert's life have been in the public eye," the director explained. "He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic book character who is having trouble in high school, or can't get the girl." Favreau also felt Downey could make Stark a "likable asshole", but also depict an authentic emotional journey once he won over the audience. Downey had an office next to Favreau during pre-production, which allowed him greater involvement in the screenwriting process. He brought a deeper sense of humor to the film not present in previous drafts of the script. He explained,

What I usually hate about these movies when suddenly the guy that you were digging turns into Dudley Do-Right, and then you're supposed to buy into all his 'Let's go do some good!' That Eliot Ness-in-a-cape-type thing. What was really important to me was to not have him change so much that he's unrecognizable. When someone used to be a schmuck and they're not anymore, hopefully they still have a sense of humor.

To prepare, Downey spent five days a week weight training and practiced martial arts to get into shape, which he said benefited him because "it's hard not to have a personality meltdown after about several hours in that suit. I'm calling up every therapeutic moment I can think of to just get through the day."

• Terrence Howard as Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes
  A friend of Stark's, and the liaison between Stark Industries and the U.S. Air Force in the department of acquisitions, specifically weapons development. Favreau cast Howard because he felt he could play War Machine in a sequel. Howard prepared for the role by visiting Nellis Air Force Base on March 16, 2007, where he ate with the pilots and observed HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and F-22 Raptors. While Rhodes is roguish in the comics after he met Stark, his earlier disciplinarian character forms a dynamic with Stark, and he is unsure whether or not Stark's actions are acceptable. "Rhodey is completely disgusted with the way Tony has lived his life, but at a certain point he realizes that perhaps there is a different way," Howard said. "Whose life is the right way; is it the strict military life, or the life of an independent?" Howard and his father are Iron Man fans, partly because Rhodes was one of the few black superheroes when he was a child. He was a Downey fan since he saw him in Weird Science, and they competed physically on set: "Robert and his competitive ass almost tore my shoulder trying to keep up with him. Because I'm 40 or 50 pounds heavier than him, so I'm in there lifting and I pushed up about 225 pounds and knocked it out 10 times. Robert wanted to go about 235, and he did it. So I'm going to push it up to about 245 . I took him out running and gave him some nice cramps. He couldn't walk after a couple of days."

• Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane
  Stark's business second-in-command and eventual antagonist. Bridges read the comics as a boy and liked Favreau's modern, realistic approach. He shaved his head and grew a gray beard for the role, which was something he had wanted to do for some time. Bridges googled the Book of Obadiah, and he was surprised to learn retribution is a major theme in that particular book of the Bible, something which Stane represents. Many of Stane's scenes were cut out to focus more on Stark, but the writers felt Bridges's performance allowed the application of "less is more".

• Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
  Stark's personal assistant and budding love interest. Paltrow asked Marvel to send her any comics that they would consider relevant to her understanding of the character, who she considered to be very smart, levelheaded, and grounded. She said she liked "the fact that there's a sexuality that's not blatant." Favreau wanted Potts' and Stark's relationship to be reminiscent of a 1940s comedy, something which Paltrow considered to be fun in a sexy, yet innocent way.

• Shaun Toub as Yinsen
  Stark's fellow captive. In the comics, Yinsen is a Chinese physicist, but in the film, he comes from an Afghan village called Gulmira, which is one of the aspects of the modernization of the Iron Man mythos for the movie.

• Faran Tahir as Raza
  The leader of the Ten Rings. Tahir is a fan of the comics, and wanted to bring humanity to the henchman. "I tried to find ways to show that although he may be the bad guy, there might be a moment or just a hint of vulnerability at times, where he hasn't made the right calculations or there's a certain amount of doubt. Jon was very receptive to that kind of layering."

• Paul Bettany voices JARVIS
  Stark's personal Artificial Intelligence computer program, which assists him in the construction and programming of the Iron Man suit. The name of the character is a reference to the comic book character Edwin Jarvis, Stark's butler. In Peter David's novelization of the film, Jarvis is revealed as an acronym for "Just A Rather Very Intelligent System". Bettany did the part as a favor to Favreau (having worked with him on Wimbledon) and said he did not know what film he was recording the lines for during his two-hour recording session.

• Leslie Bibb as Christine Everhart
  A reporter for Vanity Fair. She is a minor character in the comics, where she works as a reporter for The Daily Bugle and has investigated Tony Stark.

Clark Gregg appears as Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Samuel L. Jackson appears as the agency's head, Nick Fury, following the credits. Jackson's face was used, with his permission, as the model for that of the version of Nick Fury in Marvel's Ultimate Marvel imprint. Other cameos include Iron Man co-creator Stan Lee (whom Stark mistakes for Hugh Hefner at a party), and director Jon Favreau as Stark's bodyguard and chauffeur, Happy Hogan. Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello, who provides additional guitar music for the film, has a brief cameo as a terrorist guard. Jim Cramer, star of CNBC's Mad Money appears as himself, commenting on the investment opportunities ("Sell, sell, sell") of Stark Industries. Rapper Ghostface Killah had had a cameo in a scene where Stark briefly stays in Dubai while returning to Afghanistan, but it was cut from the theatrical release for pacing reasons. Frontline's Will Lyman provides the voiceover backstory of Stark in the film's opening award ceremony.