A few days ago, some people theorized that Robert Downey Jr.’s terrible antics during the Age of Ultron publicity tour were the result of RDJ possibly falling off the wagon. For the record, I don’t think he’s boozing or drugging again. I really don’t. I think he’s richer than God and on some kind of ego trip. He’s always been sassy-with-an-edge, but with his Marvel contract paying out crazy money, RDJ has his “f—k you” money and it’s gone to his head. That’s my explanation. Ego is a hell of a drug.

Anyway, as we all know, RDJ has been pissing people off right and left. I think the lowest point was his racism-tinged shade at Alejandro Inarritu, but a close second was RDJ’s Howard Stern interview, when he went off on British journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy. So, compared to those two incidents, RDJ’s Entertainment Weekly Sirius radio interview wasn’t flat-out horrible. He was asked if he ever felt the urge to go do smaller indie films after working on big, gargantuan Marvel films. RDJ’s answer? NOPE. When asked why he says no to indies, this was his reply:

“Because they’re exhausting and sometimes they suck and then you just go, ‘What was I thinking?’ But I’m interested in doing all different kinds of movies. Sometimes the little movies are the ones that wind up taking the most out of you because they’re like, ‘Hey, man, we’re just running a couple of days behind. Do you think you can stay through your birthday and then come back on the fourth of July. And, by the way, but, like, the crew—can you pay for the craft services? And, oh, by the way, man, when we go to Sundance, it’s like, can we just sit you in a chair and you can sell this for six days in a row so that we’ll make 180 bucks when it opens in one theater? God, this is so powerful what we’re doing. What do you think of the movie? You saw it last night?’ ‘I thought it’s mediocre.’ ‘Yeah, isn’t it the greatest?! Man, everyone’s an artist here.’ Actually, most of you are kind of inexperienced and lame.”

[From Entertainment Weekly]

For what it’s worth, this doesn’t offend me. I think he does read all the scripts he’s offered, from small indie films to potential blockbusters. And throughout his career, he’s done them all. But he’s 50 years old now and he IS a movie star, for better or for worse. He’s not trying to pretend he’s just some normal guy anymore and no one would believe him (at this point) if he tried to play the morose gay hipster in a whackadoodle family drama featuring incest and beauty pageants debuting at Sundance next year.

Photos courtesy of WENN.