By Krysta Fauria
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Robert Downey Jr. knows he has amassed an impressive collection of classic cars — one he self-deprecatingly refers to as artifacts of his success.
Despite his expectations of what the "accouterments are supposed to be" when one reaches a certain level of fame and wealth, trophies, it turns out for the actor, are not all they are cracked up to be. It's that dissatisfaction that helped to inspire "Downey's Dream Cars," his latest project debuting Thursday on Max.
"The cash and prizes, it's never been what motivated me. So, I shouldn't be surprised that it's still not," Downey said at the show's premiere, held last week at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
While "Downey's Dream Cars" is very much a show for gearheads, it isn't restricted to that audience. Downey experiments with genre in a kind of eco-friendly "Pimp My Ride" that is also part memoir and a documentary about the latest advancements in clean technology.
"That was certainly the idea, was to try to innovate a little bit in this kind of storytelling," he said.
In each episode, Downey relinquishes control of his prized possessions, letting experts modify his classic cars to be more environmentally sustainable by making them electric, converting them to run on biodiesel fuel or even affixing them with mushroom leather. Downey hopes it will be a glimpse into the future of sustainability and espouses optimism by featuring what's attainable now as well as what technological progress promises.
It is indeed a show about cars and technology, but in it Downey conveys a surprising amount of tenderness and introspection. It's a window into the ways he's grown from very public struggles with drug addiction that informed his image for years before "Iron Man" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe came calling.
He exhibits a self-awareness of the "machismo" cinematic influences and capitalistic values that prompted him to build such a collection. Throughout the show, Downey weaves in reflections on his life, family and shifting priories in recent years, specifically as they relate to the future of the planet.
Susan Downey, a producer who frequently collaborates with her husband, shares his commitment to environmental activism and worked as an executive producer for the show.
Although she said they both feel a personal responsibility in the fight against climate change, she praised her husband for his efforts to hold corporations accountable.
"It's not to absolve the everyday person of any responsibility they have, but really recognizing, to make the significant changes, they have to operate at a much higher level," she said.
The actor has in recent years become widely associated with his activism, particularly after he founded FootPrint Coalition, a venture capital fund that invests in climate technology and artificial intelligence.
In the series, Downey bemoans society's inefficiency and lack of collective will in making progress on these fronts, a frustration that contributed to his decisions to create both the company and the series.
And despite many people's concerns over the uncharted territory AI has already traversed, Downey believes in its ability to fight climate change and suspects fears of its capabilities may be to some extent unwarranted.
"Any time there's been a real emerging technology that was probably going to be significant, there's always a well of fear and hope," he said, arguing that both ought to be tempered even if he does think it can be used for good. "I'm not worried about it, but it is something I think we should have proper guidelines for."
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More