What Warren Beatty Taught Robert Downey Jr. About Acting | Joe Rogan

It baffles me confidence. What is it really mean? There was a period of time where I felt like I did the first Iron Man and then I went and did Tropic Thunder and then I was doing the first Sherlock and then I had my shirt off and I was doing Marshall. I was all over the place and it just felt like I was hitting triples no matter what I did. And then people are like, are you really as confident as you seem? And I was like, I guess right now I am. Yeah. And then and I think this goes. I mean, this reminds me we were just talking about the McGregor cowboy fight coming up. You know, it's like it's you're going to go to that. I'm going to watch it. I cannot watch it. You know, two. Brilliant souls who cannot lose. Neither one of them can afford to lose this fight. Wow. That is a matchup. Yeah, particularly cowboy doesn't want to lose. No. But there's this guy who's the poster child, the guy who's the one right, the chosen one. That's Connor. And then this cowboy who's like, I think I can fuck that guy up. The journeyman. Yeah. Yeah. So confidence, you know, there's been times when I felt I'm in possession of it. And then you want to let go a little bit because it's only ever the moment in life guiding you. The wind is so at your back that you're like, wow, are you just are you just, you know, jumping over the waves and all that by yourself? And you're like, you bet I am. But there's a physics to the moment, man moment, machine, whatever. And the winds at your back. And then the wind does what the fucking wind does and it changes. And if you're left there thinking what, you know, so I think it's great to be in full possession of what you would call supreme confidence and then see what happens if you don't hold on to it so hard, because it's great, but it is a bit of an illusion because like everything else, it's always changing. And every day, the reset button, the spacebar gets pressed and it's like, now what? Yeah. The reset button. Yeah. You kind of have to have a confidence to jump into some of the roles that you've taken, though. But I see what you're saying like that. You don't want to hold on to it. Because it could come and go. I remember Warren Beatty, who I learned so many amazing things from, a student movie called The Pickup Artist with Molly Ringwald. I remember that movie. OK. And he was kind of the de facto producer of it, uncredited. And he taught me a lot about just acting and what it was. And he said, he said, what's your what's your action in this scene? And I was like, oh, no, he's asking me. I was like, my action. I'm picking up girls. He goes, what's your action in this scene? And I was like, I'm driving a car. And he asked me like, you know, that thing sometimes when someone asks you a question and just you get caught flat footed and he goes, no, your actions, you're trying to go to work, but you're getting distracted by this addiction you have to trying to get laid. So your action is you're trying to get to work. And I was like, oh, yeah, he's right. And he said, always know what your action is, because then when you come in in the morning confident or when you come in in the morning, you can't hit your ass with both hands. You know what to do. So to me, one of the great lessons I learned from him was, oh, yeah, just boil down what it is you're doing, whether there's a camera around or just what am I doing today? Today, I'm showing up and I'm trying to be honest and and also to to listen and learn. But really, my action today is I'm today is I'm beginning a process of promotion. Warren Batey is another guy who learned how to put his guns down. Yeah, it's like I remember watching that Madonna movie when he was dating Madonna. Truth or dare. Yeah. And he's hanging around with her. And she's in the throes of fame and everything. He's like, what the fuck is going on here? And you see like he's never seen it. Yeah, but he's an older gentleman now. He's the best. And he's hanging out with her and just shaking his head. And that kind of marked it for me where Warren Batey just realized, all right, let me step away real quick. If I had to talk to him, one thing I would ask him is what was it like when Carly Simon writes a song about you? That's got to be a trip. So many. I mean, we should if we should do a whole session just about things I learned from Warren Batey. Yeah, I'm telling you. I would imagine he's a brilliant guy. Clearly.