In a recent conversation with SFX Magazine, Jon Favreau made it clear that he considers Mickey Rourke as both an actor and Whiplash, to be one of the movies most importants parts. "Mickey says a lot with very little. And there's a looming, dangerous element to this film that let us explore the relationships around Tony a lot more than other films where you sort of go halfsies-halfsies. Mickey gave us the freedom to have a lot of fun and maintain our tone, while still having a sense of doom looming over the film."
When asked how he felt about losing Terrance Howard as James Rhodes and replacing him in the sequel with Don Cheadle he said, "It was hard. I like Terrance a lot. I think he's very talented and it would have been a different process working with him that with Don."
"Don's a guy I understand, but he makes choices that I dont't always understand. But now, just wrapping up a week ago and seeing how he finished off this performance and how he arced it through...He didn't allow Rhodey to be a two-dimensional supporting character. I was proud of the insight he brought."
Although he's made it clear in the past that he probably won't be in the directors chair for The Avengers he's excited to see what others do with the characters but it seems that Iron Man is where his passion really lies, "I guess if you're not excited and curious about something, you can't direct it as well. There's no way to half-ass it and have a good movie. Not for me. Maybe others can. To me it's about what you're passionate about enough to explore for two years."
"Going from directing and creating this world to just being Happy Hogan in The Avengers would be - I'm not gonna lie - strange," he said. "But I'll be involved as an executive producer. It's very different to be a consultant on something compared to the guy calling the shots, but I think Kevin Feige and those guys have a sense of where everything's going, and I'll be involved to whatever extent they see fit."
For the full interview, be sure check out this month's issue of SFX Magazine!
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