RDJ Discusses Sherlock Holmes
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Robert Downey Jr. explains the reintroduction of The Greatest Detective to the silver screen.
Bringing back Sherlock Holmes is a daunting thing. At what point did you think, 'I can do this'?
"Well, I never thought I could or couldn't, actually. I just remember talking to Joel Silver and saying, "Dude, where's our franchise?" Joel Silver and Mrs. Downey had done Guy's film previous to Sherlock, RocknRolla. Rather, they had put up the dough and had enjoyed the results. In the meantime, [producer] Lionel Wigram, had, I guess, been trying to figure out - like the rest of us, once we got it going - how come Sherlock Holmes had not been snatched up and done already? I remember in the 80s, 90s and on through nowadays, all search engines were on high alert for what the next franchise could be. So I guess it had been hiding in plain sight all along."
Was your decision to sign up determined at all by who would be Watson?
"Absolutely. That, to me, was the whole point. The realisation I had was that Holmes and Watson were the first action duo - I dare anybody to predate them. So I thought, Wow, this really is a two-hander. And while the script had the relationship there, I'm sure, initially, it was geared toward reintroducing a generation to Holmes himself. And maybe it was, partially, to share the load, or take off the pressure, but I think more so because it was my first instinct, I said, 'Well, this is a movie about two guys.' The movie, just as the books, is told, through Doyle as Watson, describing Holmes and his adventures. At a certain level, Doyle is Watson. It's hard to make that come through in the script, because usually when studios take a property, they decide to spin a point of view on it. Well, this one didn't need to be spun, we just needed to find the right guy. So we were pursuing Jude, and, understandably, he was cautiously optimistic. I asked him to come over to... where were we staying?"
