 |
|
|
 |
4More Pages
|
||||||||
|
 Jeff Bridges as Obadiah StaneWhen Tony Stark is captured and held prisoner by an unknown enemy, the reins of Stark Industries are turned over to his top executive and right-hand man, Obadiah Stane. A confidant and advisor to Tony's father Howard Stark, Stane is a shrewd and calculating businessman who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
To play Obadiah, the filmmakers cast one of Hollywood's most successful and distinguished actors, four-time Academy Award nominee Jeff Bridges.
“As a child I was a big fan of comic books and one of the things that really made me interested in doing `Iron Man' was Jon Favreau's desire to make a film that was really grounded in reality,” asserts Bridges. “He wanted people to be able to watch the film and believe it would be possible for him to build a suit and maybe that could really happen.”
The actor continues: “Obadiah is an interesting name, so I Googled it and discovered that it is the shortest book in the Bible. It's only a couple of pages, so I read it and it's all about retribution, of which there is a great deal in this story. I wonder if Stan Lee knew that or if it was just a total coincidence.”
“Jeff Bridges was truly the first and only choice to play the part of Obadiah Stane,” says Billingsley. “He is such a tremendous actor, a chameleon in all the roles he has played over the years. He has an amazing body of work and we knew he would bring an intensity and realism to the role of Obadiah Stane.”
Billingsley's words rang true when Bridges expressed his willingness to shave his traditional thick head of hair in order to look more like the comic book character. “I've never shaved my head before, but I have always wanted to,” reveals Bridges. “I always thought that someday a part would come along and I'd have to do it. When I saw the comic book character, I said `oh well, here is my chance to finally do it.' I spoke to Jon about it and he said `we feel like you don't have to shave your head.' I really wanted him to say, `Oh yeah, you have to shave your head.' I had really long hair prior to this film so we kind of chipped away at it, took it down a few steps at a time until, finally, we took the plunge and shaved it all off, which instantly transformed me in an Obadiah-like way.”
When Jeff Bridges walked into my office after shaving his head and growing a beard, it was as if Obadiah Stane had walked out of the pages of the Iron Man comic and was standing before me,” says producer Feige. “The resemblance was uncanny. He could have pulled off the role with a different look, but the fact that he was willing to do whatever it took to become this character really spoke volumes about the kind of actor Jeff is and why you want to have him in your film.”
|
|||||||||
Save to your Facebook.