It was a dream come true for Roger Durling, executive director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF), to honor Robert Downey Jr. with the Maltin Modern Master Award at the 39th annual event on Friday.
“I have been a fan since forever,” said Durling. “I’ve been festival director for 23 years, and the one person I always wanted to honor is Robert Downey Jr. His films are phenomenal, but his personal story is an amazing example of having failed and struggled and all of a sudden to rise from those mistakes and soar once again is what Robert Downey Jr. exemplifies.”
The namesake of the Maltin Modern Master Award is film historian and author Leonard Maltin, who interviewed Downey Jr., discussing the actor’s storied five-decade acting career, starting with his first role at age 5 in “Pound” and concluding with his turn as Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer,” for which he has been nominated for an Academy Award.
“Robert has been acting so long and done so much that one of the problems that we had preparing for tonight was knowing what to leave out,” said Maltin. “Being prolific is one thing, but being so good at what you do from the word ‘go’ and staying really good for so long is remarkable.”
“I think this [acting] is what I was supposed to do,” said Downey Jr. when asked about his destiny. He joked that he had worked at a sandwich shop, shoe store and as a bus boy, but due to his lack of skill at those roles, he “had to resort to theater.”
Downey Jr. was feted by longtime friend and fellow actor Rob Lowe.
“I’ve known Robert Downey Jr. since my freshman history class at Santa Monica High School,” said Lowe.
“From the minute this young pup appeared on screen, he had a spark, a flavor, an energy that was unlike anybody else — period — but certainly unlike anybody else in our orbit. He had an intelligence, a sly sense of humor, but also the rare thing which is the additional combination of deep humanity and pathos.”
All of these qualities were on display in a moving montage of Downey Jr.’s dynamic career, including clips from “Less Than Zero,” “Chances Are,” “True Believer,” “Chaplin,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” “Zodiac,” “Iron Man,” “Tropic Thunder,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Sr.” and “Oppenheimer.”
In preparation for “Chaplin,” Downey Jr. said he came to Santa Barbara 33 years ago and stayed at the historic Montecito Inn, “looking for tracings of Chaplin.” He added, “that film felt like a make-or-break opportunity,” and his praise for director Richard Attenborough who “was so generous and loving and I really needed that.”
“What you want from a director is to feel like you are making them happy … to commune with the director so that he and I become the third thing which is the character.”
Maltin pointed out that “Zodiac” was the film that enabled people to trust the actor again, after years of addiction and dependence. “It was never a question of talent,” he told the actor, “just reliability.”
Maltin called Downey Jr. a “superhero” both in his role as Tony Stark in “Iron Man” and in his life. “You persevered … and of course, you were and you are [a superhero].”
“I will never be as cool as Tony Stark, but it was so cool to be associated with someone like that for a while, and then it wore off,” he replied.
Downey Jr. also shared personal stories of his family, crediting his wife, Susan, whom he met in 2003 on the set of “Gothika,” for keeping him and his two children grounded. On whether his kids have watched his films, he joked, “I don’t know how my wife did this, but they only have passing interest in my majesty. Eventually they’ll sit down and realize exactly who their father is.”
The final tribute of the evening came from Cillian Murphy, also nominated for an Academy Award for his leading role in “Oppenheimer.”
“It’s been seldom in my career that I realized I was born to play a supporting role in favor of somebody else rightfully having the spotlight,” said Downey Jr. of Murphy. “I was afforded a deep, humiliating clinic on masterful acting in exceptional cinematic experiences, and I have always known and respected him but he had yet to have a vehicle where he could fully demonstrate the genius of his capacity. It’s an honor to be way under him on the call sheet.”
“I’ve never worked with or met anyone like Robert Downey Jr.,” said Murphy. “In my opinion he is the most versatile actor of his generation — most likely of many generations.”
On how he does it, Murphy said, “I think it’s a marriage of pure, pure talent and this kind of preternatural insight into human nature. And what I’ve learned is that Robert works incredibly hard to make it look so easy, because all the great ones do.”
“He’s not just a great actor, he’s kind of a unicorn, because he’s risen to the level of superstar that few of us can comprehend.”
Downey Jr. credited director Christopher Nolan for his vision and faith in him as an actor, and said his experience with “Oppenheimer” was “very exacting and very rewarding and probably the best movie I’ve even been a part of.”
Both Lowe and Murphy presented the Maltin Modern Master Award, the festival’s highest accolade, given to “an individual who has enriched our culture through accomplishments in the motion picture industry.”
Downey Jr. thanked his friends and recognized Maltin as “a scholar, writer, critic and host, whose approval means the world to me.”
“This whole SBIFF, for us, was party time. My agent and I have been looking forward to this festival for months — we even got matching PJs — we always have a great time here. And, as always, I will never finish any thank-you without thanking my dearest associate, Susan Downey.”
Downey Jr. joins an impressive list of past honorees, including Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman, Bill Murray, Brad Pitt, Glenn Close, Gary Oldman, Denzel Washington, Johnny Depp, Michael Keaton, Bruce Dern, Ben Affleck, Christopher Plummer, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, George Clooney, and Peter Jackson.
The 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival continues through Feb. 17. Passes are on sale at sbiff.org.
