Over the next 30 days, everyday, LA Times will be unveiling a behind-the-scenes scoop for the highly anticipated Iron Man 2. Starting today, they have the sequel's director, Jon Favreau, discussing the actor behind business rival Justin Hammer, Sam Rockwell. Who was up for the lead role of Tony Stark in the original.
"For much of Mickey's on-screen time he's alone and for the parts where he's paired up I went out and purposely hired Sam Rockwell, who is a bit of an unflappable actor, too," Favreau said. "He's very poised and he also puts in a good performance no matter what's going on around him. I had worked with him before and I know that he could hold his own and let Mickey be a strong brooding type who spoke mostly Russian. I knew Sam could handle the exposition we needed, and that's (the) way we added the character of Hammer, who is quite different here than he is in the comics."