Robert Downey Jr. was so committed to method acting as the method actor Kirk Lazarus in 'Tropic Thunder' that he even peed in character, his co-star said

• Robert Downey Jr. stayed in character for "Tropic Thunder" while off-camera, his costar Danny McBride said.
• Downey Jr. played method actor Kirk Lazarus in the satire about a war film.
• McBride told GQ that he overheard Downey Jr. method-acting as the method actor on set.

Robert Downey Jr. was so committed to method acting his part as the method actor Kirk Lazarus in "Tropic Thunder'" that he went to the toilet in character, according to his costar Danny McBride.

In the satirical movie about the making of a war film, Downey Jr. plays an Australian actor who is so committed to method acting that he surgically darkens his skin and pretends to be African-American. Downey Jr. wore blackface for this role, a decision that has been criticized in recent years because of its racist history.

McBride, who played an explosion director in the movie, told GQ in an interview published on Wednesday that Downey Jr. was so committed to his "Tropic Thunder" role that he method acted too.

McBride said he was given an earpiece in the scene where his character is in a watchtower above the set, so that the director could communicate with him. But the earpiece also allowed him to hear the mics of the other actors.

"I guess during one of the takes, they had left Downey's mic on, and so I'm sitting up there, and I'm like, 'Oh shit, I can hear what he's saying,'" McBride said. "He was talking to people, and he was in character the whole time. And then I even watched him walk back to his trailer and saw it from down there, and he was talking to himself."

McBride said he heard Downey Jr. saying in character: "I'm gonna go drain the snake."

He added: "He made up a song about how he was gonna go piss in character for no one else's benefit except for his own."

Downey Jr.'s dedication to the role paid off. The movie, which also starred Jack Black, Ben Stiller, and Tom Cruise, was a success, earning $195 million at the global box office, according to Box Office Mojo. In 2009, Downey Jr. received a supporting actor Oscar nomination for his performance in "Tropic Thunder."

Robert Downey Jr. has defended wearing blackface in 'Tropic Thunder'

During an appearance on the "Literally! With Rob Lowe" podcast in January, Downey Jr. said that Stiller, who directed the movie, created Lazarus to criticize the blackface trope.

"The spirit that Stiller directed and cast and shot 'Tropic Thunder' in was, essentially, as a railing against all of these tropes that are not right and had been perpetuated for too long," Downey Jr. said.

In 2020, Downey Jr. told "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast that he saw the role as an opportunity to "be Black for a summer" and show the "insane self-involved hypocrisy of artists."

"It was impossible to not have it be an offensive nightmare of a movie, and 90% of my Black friends were like, 'Dude, that was great,'" Downey Jr. said before comparing the movie to "White Chicks," a film where two Black actors pretend to be white women.

Downey Jr.'s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.