Robert Downey Jr. made his Broadway debut in McNeal on the finish of September.
Oct. 25 2024, Printed 5:15 p.m. ET
Robert Downey Jr. has allegedly been a “mess” after his eagerly awaited Broadway debut in McNeal became a stunning catastrophe.
Sources near the Academy Award winner say he’s struggling to deal with the detrimental opinions for his new play, which has now forged a shadow over his profession, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
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Downey is reportedly a ‘mess’ after his Broadway debut in McNeal was met with harsh critic opinions.
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Insiders claimed: “Robert took a daring leap from dominating the silver display to attempting his luck on stage. However the brutal opinions have shattered him.”
“He poured his coronary heart into the undertaking, just for it to bomb — it has been a blow to his ego!”
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The actor made his Broadway debut simply months after taking house his first Oscar for Oppenheimer.
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One other supply claimed that the second the present wraps up, “he will not be stepping foot on a theater stage once more.”
Downey’s Broadway debut comes simply months after the actor took house his first Oscar for his finest supporting actor position in Oppenheimer earlier this 12 months.
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His new play, from Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar, opened on the Lincoln Middle Theater on September 30.
It focuses on Downey’s character Jacob McNeal, an acclaimed novelist whose battle with alcoholism and psychological sickness reaches a breaking level at a vital second in his profession.
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Though the play has attracted consideration for its examination of the intricate implications of synthetic intelligence, the one-act present was met with less-than-glamorous opinions.
Selection labeled Downey’s debut as “stale and confounding”, whereas The New York Submit referred to the “terrible” manufacturing as a “complete wipeout”.
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Different publications known as the present a “combined bag of perception and exhaustion” pegged with “flat characters”.
The play is working for a restricted time and is at the moment scheduled to shut on November 24.
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Downey’s new play was labeled as ‘stale’ and ‘complicated’ by critics on the present’s opening night time.
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Downey beforehand shared an Instagram video to doc McNeal’s opening night time, which confirmed the actor in his dressing room as he brewed himself a cup of espresso and headed to the stage earlier than doorways.
The Iron Man star took a second to look out into the empty home earlier than 1000’s of theatergoers took their seats.
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In an interview simply days earlier than the play’s opening, Downey informed Broadway.com that switching from the display to the stage felt “unnaturally pure”.
He added: “I can carry all of the expertise I’ve had in different mediums again to right here.”
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Downey final appeared on the NYC stage practically 41 years in the past in a failed play that closed the identical night time it opened.
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Downey famous how he did not even get via his first studying of the script earlier than deciding to leap head-first into the undertaking.
He stated: “When that occurs, there isn’t any ‘Why’ — as a result of I really feel like this can be a present.”
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The actor final appeared on stage roughly 41 years in the past in a failed musical known as American Ardour, which opened and closed on the identical day on the Joyce Theatre in downtown NYC.
On why he determined to return to the theater, the actor informed Vogue: “New play, well timed material, nice integers, nice people concerned, Bart, the forged.”
Downey additionally stated it has been “nice to be again” in New York Metropolis and that his objective is to “by no means miss a present”.
He joked: “My intention is to be first on-site each goddamn efficiency.”
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