“I don’t want to work with him anymore”: Before Marvel, Robert Downey Jr. broke Halle Berry’s hand on the set!

After Purple Rivers, Mathieu Kasowitz succumbed to the sirens of Hollywood by signing the fantasy thriller Gothika in 2004. In a masterclass at the Cairo Film Festival in November 2022, described as explosive varietyThe actor-director spoke honestly, true form.

It was producer Joel Silver who went looking for her after discovering Les Rivières pourpres on a plane. And let’s offer Kasowitz the reins of the upcoming film without cheating on him:

He said: Listen, there is Holly Berry, we are ready to shoot in a month and a half. You have no say in the script, you have no say in the casting, and you have to adapt.”

Led by Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr., the story tells the story of a psychiatrist who works in a specialized institution. One day she wakes up in one of the cells and is accused of murdering her husband. Although he doesn’t remember how he got into this situation, he will do anything to find the truth…

Back in the saddle for the upcoming Iron Man

Although the film was well-received by critics, it still grossed $141 million, three times its production budget. It’s also the movie that got Robert Downey Jr. right.

Due to his drug and alcohol problems between 1996 and 2003, RDJ was sentenced to three years in prison in 1999 for violating his probation after a drug and firearms possession episode that resulted in a speeding incident. The actor will eventually be behind bars for a year.

After his release from prison, his first work as an actor was in 2001 in a music video i want love by Elton John. His first film dates back to 2003 as a singing detective.

Downey Jr. was able to appear in Keith Gordon’s film because Mel Gibson offered to pay the insurance. Gothika marks the artist’s return to mainstream cinema.

During this still uncertain period for him, to the point where Joel Silver actually withheld 40% of the actor’s salary until the end of production as insurance in case he ever recovered, Downey Jr. also met the one who would become his on the set. Future wife Susan Levine, who was none other than Joel Silver’s producer and collaborator for Dark Castle Entertainment.

Hale’s hand is broken

The relationship between Downey Jr. and Halle Berry was not very good. And Kasowitz recalls in his aforementioned masterclass that filming got really tense after an actor broke an actor’s hand in a scene where he had to twist it. It’s obviously very strong…

The incident forced production to stop for eight weeks. As a result, Halle Berry refused to film with the actor. “He said, ‘I don’t want to work with him anymore’. I had to play a double. If it had been one of my films, it would have killed me. But since it wasn’t, I cried. .”