The first official still from ‘Tropic Thunder' was released today, and it looks interesting. I mean… Robert Downey Jr.is in the middle (between Jack Black and Ben Stiller) as the black guy? Nice job with Downey.
The plot follows a group of serious actors heading out to make a Vietnam movie when they're somehow forced to become real soldiers.
Downey's character, by the way, is actually a white guy who is cast as a black guy in the movie but refuses to let them change the character around and demands to play the character black.
Stiller got the idea for Thunder more than 20 years ago while shooting a small part in Steven Spielberg's WWII drama Empire of the Sun. He's continued to develop the script.
Tropic Thunder stars Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, Jack Black, Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, Bill Hader, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Tobey Maguire…
Stiller directed the pic and it hits theaters on August 15, 2008.
One of the other writers on Highbrid Nation wrote about Robert Downy playing a black man in Tropical Thunder. He worries that Al Sharpton might have something to say about it, lol. Honestly as a black person I think it’s kinda cool that movie make-up has gotten to the point where you can make someone look like another race and if the pics I’ve seen of Robert Downy in costume are accurate than they did a really good job! Plus Robert is a very capable actor so I’m sure he wont come across as stereo typical or offensive. I could be wrong though.