By Stephanie Holland / Editor In Chief
By Stephanie Holland / Editor In Chief
Since its May 7 opening “Iron Man 2” has captivated fans and made more than $567 million worldwide.
A huge part of “Iron Man’s” appeal is the chemistry between the cast. This film really shows how important the supporting cast is to a superhero film’s success.
While Robert Downey Jr. is the undisputed star of the movie, his charm would not work if he didn’t have Gwyneth Paltrow to play against.
And of course, Don Cheadle, who plays Lt. Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes, is perfect as Tony Stark’s best friend, because he and Downey feel like old friends who can give each other a hard time, while never failing to back each other up.
For most fans, a superhero is only as good as the villains he fights and the team that backs him up.
“Iron Man’s” success can be directly attributed to a team that includes Downey, Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg and Scarlett Johansson.
This success comes as no surprise to Sam Rockwell, who plays Justin Hammer in the film. Rockwell discussed his experience making the film in a phone interview May 6.
In the film Hammer is Tony Stark’s rival who decides to use Mickey Rourke’s character as a way to destroy Stark. This allowed Rockwell to spend a lot of time on screen with Rourke, which turned out to be one of his favorite parts of making the film.
“The scenes with Mickey Rourke were very fun for me to do,” Rockwell said. “There’s a lot for me to do in the scenes, and it was a good time you know.”
Another perk for Rockwell was working with director Jon Favreau.
“I think what makes Jon so special is he’s an actor. He’s a really good actor, and he understands you know how to make things fresh and real you know,” he said.
Rockwell admittedly knew very little about Justin Hammer before he started filming, so he had to do some research on the character. However, the part he plays in the film is very different from the character in the comics, so he was able to make the role his own.
“Favreau really let me kind of just be myself and do my thing you know,” he said. “We were never going to try to do the ascot British accent thing.”
With one of the more versatile resumes in film, Rockwell never imagined that his career would get to the level it’s at now.
“I thought I would just maybe get some summer stock theater…I didn’t really know what was going to happen,” he said.
With “Iron Man 2” still in theaters, Rockwell can look forward to once again working with Favreau on the upcoming “Cowboys and Aliens.”
“Jon and I really love working together, so we’re going to do it again,” he said.
