Robert Downey Jr. Pulls Ballsy ‘Blackface’ For Ben Stiller’s ‘Tropic Thunder’

We honestly don’t have much use for Ben Stiller, we didn’t find “Zoolander” all that funny and he’s been in many a terrible role in the last few years (see his godawful turn in “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” for one particularily glaring example), so when the announcement of his new comedy “Tropic Thunder,” was made a few months back, we shrugged and ignored it.

But hold the phone, a picture of the film released today has us officially interested.

So in the picture is obviously Ben Stiller, Jack Black (blonde in the back) and the African-American soldier? It’s fucking Robert Downey Jr. Say what??

In the action comedy epic, Downey apparently plays an oh-so-serious Oscar-winning actor cast to star in the most expensive Vietnam epic ever made.

The problem? The character he’s meant to play is black in the original script. So what does the character do? Full-on method-acting immersion of course, dying his skin and playing the character like it was written originally.

We’re admittedly pretty intrigued by this hilarious premise, but that’s not the synopsis entirely.

According to EW:

“[Ben] Stiller plays an action hero who has just adopted a baby from Asia but worries that ‘all the good ones are gone.” Jack Black portrays a comedian known for performing multiple roles in a single film — his latest is called The Fatties: Fart 2. But when the film’s director (Steve Coogan) and writer (Nick Nolte) get fed up with their prima donna cast, they drop them into the jungle to fend for themselves. The actors think they’re doing some sort of full-immersion filmmaking, but the danger they’re in is very real.”

“If it’s done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago,” Downey told EW. ”If you don’t do it right, we’re going to hell.”

And how. That’s some cojones on Downey, but at least it won’t make it easy for him to play himself this time (which he usually does: see his last 3-4 films).

Paramount is unveiling the trailer on March 17 and the film is due later this summer. It sounds wrong in all the right ways. (BTW, we have to use this opportunity to say that “Reality Bites” is terrible and one of the most overrated ’90s movies.)