More pics of Robert Downey Jr. on the set of Iron Man 2.

This time it looks like he left the high heels behind!

[BauerGriffin.com]

Robert Downey Jr. on set of the new “Iron Man 2″ movie in Pasadena.

So tell me, what was the first thing you noticed about Robert? His tush in those tight pants or the high heeled boots?

[Photograph: PacificCoastNews.com]

Editor’s Smack: High heeled boots with platforms.  Someone has a complex…

“Iron Man” star Robert Downey Jr. does some shopping in Santa Monica with his wife Susan and son Indio.

Robert was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at this year’s Academy Awards for his role in “Tropic Thunder”.

Check out that cute tush.

[Photograph: Shawaf, Shirley, PacificCoastNews.com]

Newsweek sat down with six of the actors on most everyone’s Oscar shortlist for their 13th annual Oscar Roundtable.

This year’s panel includes Brad Pitt (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”), Anne Hathaway (”Rachel Getting Married”), Robert Downey Jr. (”Tropic Thunder”), Mickey Rourke (”The Wrestler”), Frank Langella (”Frost/Nixon”) and Sally Hawkins (”Happy-Go-Lucky”).

Here are a collection of videos and an excerpt of the interview which will be featured in the next issue of Newsweek.

NEWSWEEK: With the Internet, it’s becoming harder for actors to draw the line between public and private. Do any of you guys ever Google yourself?
Pitt: Dear God. No.

Never?
Pitt: Never. First of all, I don’t really know how to operate a computer.

Do you have a BlackBerry?
Pitt: Oh yeah, I have a BlackBerry.

Anne, what about you. Do you Google yourself?
Hathaway: No.

Langella: It’s not a good idea. It can be painful and it can be self-aggrandizing.

Hawkins: What do they say about don’t believe any of it?

Downey: Oh, I love all that s—-, personally. Sorry. I love just it. Because it’s a hoot. Some people overstate their support, like they know you. Other people are busy doing something else and just want to go on this chat site and say some despicable character assassination, which I honestly think they kind of nailed it. I do have that shortcoming. It’s really fun.

Pitt: This publicity machine is out of control. It’s everything we didn’t sign up for. There’s this whole other entity that you get sucked into. You have to go and sell your wares. It’s something I never made my peace with. Somehow you’re not supporting your film if you don’t get out on a show and talk about your personal life. It has nothing to do with why I do this.

Langella: I’m a dinosaur. I never had a publicist until this film, because I had to protect myself—the studio wanted me to do every interview and talk show. I think the greatest thing an actor has is mystery and danger. And you poor guys are being asked to give pieces of yourself. You must fight it every chance you get. The more they know about you personally, the less they believe in you on camera. You want to disappear.

Pitt: But I think it’s impossible to operate fully from that standpoint. David Fincher [director of "Benjamin Button"] has spent five years chiseling away at this thing. I want him to get his day. So there is a strange push and pull.

(more…)

Yesterday we told you about People magazine choosing Hugh Jackman as their 2008 Sexiest Man of the Year.

I have to say I was disappointed. But as you saw in our post, People magazine really never gets it right, just look at their track record.

Sure, they have chosen some men who deserved the title at the time, but c’mon, multiple covers of Clooney, Pitt and Gere? Surely there are more fish in the sea.

Today I stumbled upon Salon.com’s assumed answer to People’s Sexiest Man title. And they actually got it right!

Salon named Robert Downey Jr. as their Sexiest Man of the Year, and I have to agree.

Downey Jr. may have had many peaks and valleys in his personal and professional life, but he has weathered the storms and is a survivor.

We have watched him fight personal demons, we have seen him at his lowest. Yet somehow he has managed to rise to the top again. You can’t deny his amazing talent and well, the guy is just downright likable.

I have had a crush on Mr. Downey since he played Ian in Weird Science. (Which I really need to see again!) He played an asshole valley boy who was absolutely 80s delicious.

Then there was Less Than Zero which pretty much foreshadowed the drug abuse that would soon destroy Downey’s life. Let’s just hope he never sucked dick for blow..heh.

Anyhow, fast forward to 2008 and Downey is on top of the world. Starring in one of the biggest hits of the year, Iron Man, Downey is once again back where he belongs. In the spotlight.

He is not only talented, he is incredibly sexy, smart, witty and complex. He’s been around for years and many of us have grown up with him.

Now, I’m not bashing Mr. Jackman, but c’mon, I didn’t even know who he was until not too long ago. He cannot hold a candle to the handsome, lovable and persevering Robert Downey Jr.

So I say “Bravo!” Salon.com!  You definitely nailed this one.

“I have to thank Burger King. It was such a disgusting burger I ordered. I had that, and this big soda, and I thought something really bad was going to happen.”

- Robert Downey Jr. says in 2003 he was driving a car filled with “tons of f**king dope” when he stopped at the restaurant. Something about the experience made him throw all of the drugs he had into the Pacific Ocean and decide to clean up his life.