Terrence Howard Feels Betrayed by Robert Downey Jr. After Helping Him Get Iron Man Role

Terrence Howard played James Rhodes in the first ‘Iron Man’ movie. He was seen as a co-lead, sharing the screen with Iron Man, whose role wasn’t cast when Howard joined. Howard revealed that he sacrificed $1 million from his own pay to help Robert Downey Jr. secure the role of Iron Man. The studio had initially wanted a different actor altogether.

After a series of personal incidents, Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle. This change almost derailed Howard’s career. He recently shared his feelings on Joe Rogan’s podcast, revealing he felt the most hurt by Robert Downey Jr. Howard reached out to RDJ when he was in danger of losing the role, but Downey Jr. ghosted him for three years. Howard said, ‘I called him 27 times and left messages. I didn’t hear from him until 3 years later when I bumped into him at Brian Grazer’s wedding.’

Howard had a three-picture deal with increasing pay when he signed on for ‘Iron Man’. However, after the first film, the studio drastically reduced his salary due to personal challenges he was facing. Howard shared that the studio wanted him to come back for $1 million instead of the $8 million they had agreed on. Howard’s agent reacted emotionally and said, ‘F-you’, then hung up the phone. The studio then quickly approached Don Cheadle for the role. Howard felt hurt by the studio’s portrayal of him as difficult on set, saying, ‘They said I was terrible on set and went through all this stuff.’

Usually, actors leverage their popularity for a pay increase, not a decrease. We were shocked to learn this about RDJ, who always had a reputation for being one of the nicest guys in the industry. Howard’s story sheds new light on the behind-the-scenes drama of the Marvel universe.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!