Timothy Olyphant Looks Back on His Failed IRON MAN Audition with Humility and Grace

As you might already know, Justified star Timothy Olyphant was once up for the role of Tony Stark in Marvel’s Iron Man. He was up against the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Rockwell for the role. During a recent appearance on The Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast, Olyphant looked back on the audition and talked about his experience meeting Iron Man’s director, Jon Favreau. He said:

“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 [auditioning for ‘Iron Man’] would be fun.' 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. 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?”

While Olyphant didn’t end up getting the role, he did end up working with Favreau years later when he was cast as Cobb Vanth in The Mandalorian, and he also went on to appear in The Book of Boba Fett. The actor added:

“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.”

Olyphant just seems like a super nice and cool guy. I really love his outlook on how all that turned out. As you know, casting Downey as Iron Man was a major risk for Marvel Studios due to his troubled history with the law and substance abuse. But, Favreau and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige fought to cast him and they were willing to give him that shot, and it definitely paid off! The film was a smash hit and it launched an epic franchise that no one could’ve imagined.