At this point, it's hard to imagine Tony Stark in the MCU without the terrific performance of Robert Downey Jr. behind it. After all, the success of the first Iron Man movie became the reason why the franchise is now as big as it is today.
However, before Downey Jr. was cast as Tony Stark, there were other actors that were in contention to play the character who also could have done a great job, but perhaps not as iconic as Downey Jr. did.
One of the actors that were auditioning to play Tony Stark is Timothy Olyphant, who we now know as Raylan Givens in Justified and the now-beloved Cobb Vanth in the Star Wars franchise.
Timothy Olyphant Gets Honest About His Iron Man Audition
In an interview with The Playlist's Bingeworthy podcast, Olyphant looked back on his experience auditioning for Iron Man and his early conversations with director Jon Favreau when he was trying out for the role.
"I can only tell you that I remember thinking that was the first time where, because I’m a bit of a slow learner and I think I was scared to death of the things that come with success in this business, but that was the time where I remember thinking, ‘Well, I can’t get any more grounded and so this would be fun," he said.
"I think prior to that I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t want those kinds of problems.’ And I think part of that appeal was those conversations that I had with [Jon] Favreau – I just have a tremendous amount of respect for him and I just like the guy. He’s just a good dude."
Despite not getting the role, the Emmy nominee has no gripes with Favreau, who he ended up working with on The Mandalorian.
Olyphant continued, "And so, if you’re going to go down that road, you’re not going to find anyone better to go down it with, so I have fond memories of that experience, you know?"
"I try to see things simply for what they are and not what they could be and any conversations I had with Jon about that job and about that process, I remember it very fondly. It was an enjoyable process…And, well, he’s the one who hired me for [The Mandalorian], so he doesn’t owe me anything."
Today, we can say now that everything went well for Olyphant despite missing out on the MCU role since there are two beloved characters that he ended up playing years after the audition with Raylan Givens on Justified and, recently, Cobb Vanth in the Star Wars franchise.
Also Read: Here’s Why The Mandalorian Fans Are Calling for Lizzo’s Season 3 Removal
His turn as the latter became an instant fan-favorite when he debuted on the second season of The Mandalorian and fans are hoping that he will show up again in the future, which is very likely as seen by the post-credits of The Book of Boba Fett.
The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are available to stream on Disney+.
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