Pic Shows Actor Robert Downey Jr. in Blackface?

On Aug. 13, 2024, a post surfaced on X, quickly gaining attention, alleging that a picture of Academy Award-winner Robert Downey Jr. depicted the actor in blackface. The post, attracting 14,000 comments and 68,000 likes as of this writing, featured a picture showing someone who appeared to be a Black man donning military attire and flanked by similarly attired actors Ben Stiller and Jack Black. The caption read:

Despite the authenticity of the photo, which shows Downey Jr. truly in hair and makeup resembling a Black individual, we rate this claim as “Mixture.” His character wore blackface in the film but the actor wasn’t found to have done so as himself in real life.

The action-comedy “Tropic Thunder,” directed by Stiller and co-written by Justin Theroux, featured a star-studded cast including Tom Cruise, Stiller, Black and Matthew McConaughey. The plot revolves around a film within a film where a group of actors inadvertently find themselves making a war-themed movie in the midst of an active war zone. In a twist of life imitating art, the actors are compelled to battle their way to safety.

In “Tropic Thunder,” the movie from which the viral picture was derived, Downey Jr. portrays a white Australian method actor, Kirk Lazarus, who consistently remains in character throughout making the fictitious film within a film. Within this fictitious movie, Lazarus’ character is intended to be a Black man. So, when Downey Jr. appeared in blackface, he was depicting the role of a fictional Australian actor performing the controversial role of a Black American actor within a movie.

For comparison, here is a side-by-side photo showing Downey Jr. at the “Tropic Thunder” premiere in Los Angeles in 2008 (left), contrasting his appearance for the role in the fictitious movie:

(@CultureCrave/X and Getty Images)

According to the film synopsis from Apple TV:

The character portrayed by Downey Jr. even undergoes a medical procedure within the movie to darken his skin tone, such is the character’s unwavering commitment to method acting. Lazarus comically and adamantly refuses to break character, with Downey’s Australian-accented character maintaining his hair and makeup and speaking in African American Vernacular English, even when not filming. 

Downey’s satirical and humorous portrayal of the method actor was reportedly a critique of Hollywood and its history of racial insensitivity. This portrayal earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009. 

Throughout “Tropic Thunder,” Lazarus’ commitment to remaining in character as a Black man irritates his colleagues. Downey Jr.’s portrayal is intended to be satirical and self-aware, evidenced by some of the tongue-in-cheek lines his character Lazarus delivers while maintaining his Black character, including, “Man, I don’t drop character ’till I done the DVD commentary,” and, “I know who I am. I’m the dude playin’ the dude, disguised as another dude!”

While it’s true that there are images online of actor Downey Jr. in blackface, the viral post was taken out of context. It shows the actor in a movie role in which his character plays a fictitious Australian actor who plays a Black American character as part of a story within a story, also known as an embedded narrative. Downey Jr.’s portrayal of blackface was satirical and not a real representation of an outdated and racist cinematic practice meant to ridicule or mock Black people. Rather, it was meant to be a mocking critique of Hollywood.

Snopes has previously reported on Robert Downey Jr., including the claim that Burger King helped him overcome his drug addiction, and the false 2023 claim that he would be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Iron Man.