'Saturday Night Live' #TBT: Remember When Robert Downey Jr. Was a Cast Member?
Robert Downey Jr. is one of the biggest stars on the planet thanks to his role as Iron Man, which he reprises in next week’s Captain America: Civil War. But before his days as a Marvel superhero, before he was a troubled star struggling with addictions, and even before he was a promising young actor with an Oscar nomination, Downey was a cast member on Saturday Night Live.
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That may surprise you, but yes, he was an SNL player… for all of one season. In 1985, executive producer Lorne Michaels returned to the show after a hiatus of a few years. He brought in an entirely new cast, including Downey, Anthony Michael Hall, Jon Lovitz, Dennis Miller, and Randy Quaid.
Downey only lasted that one season because, well, he was terrible. Rolling Stone named him the worst cast member in SNL’s entire history. Though his charm is evident in sketches — like this “Weekend Update” bit with Hall — Downey clearly was not meant to reside in Studio 8H.
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Luckily, he found other things to do, like make billions of dollars as Iron Man.
Saturday Night Live returns May 7 with host Brie Larson and musical guest Alicia Keys.
