Award-winning actor Robert Downey Jr is back on the big screen, this time as quirky veterinarian Dr Dolittle
ROBERT Downey Jr electrifies one of literature’s most enduring characters in a vivid re-imagining of the classic tale of the man who could talk to animals in the movie Dolittle.
Directed by Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan, it tells the story of the eccentric Dr John Dolittle.
After losing his wife Lily (Italian actress Kasia Smutniak) seven years earlier, the famed doctor and veterinarian of Queen Victoria’s England turns hermit, living behind the high walls of Dolittle Manor with only his menagerie of exotic animals for company.
But when the young queen (Jessie Buckley) falls gravely ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure.
He regains his wit and courage as he crosses old adversaries and discovers wondrous creatures.
The doctor is joined on his quest by young, self-appointed apprentice Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett) and a raucous coterie of animal friends — including Chee-Chee (Oscar winner Rami Malek), an anxious, self-conscious gorilla; Dab-Dab (Oscar winner Octavia Spencer), an enthusiastic but bird-brained duck; the bickering duo of cynical, neurotic ostrich Plimpton (Kumail Nanjiani) and chilly-but-chill polar bear Yoshi (John Cena); as well as a headstrong parrot named Polynesia(Oscar winner Emma Thompson) who serves as Dolittle’s most trusted advisor and confidante as well as his reliable conscience.
The epic adventure also stars Antonio Banderas as pirate king Rassouli, lord of Monteverde isle; Michael Sheen as Dr Blair Mudfly, Dolittle’s nemesis at university and Queen Victoria’s palace physician; Carmel Laniado as Lady Rose, who catapults Dolittle and Stubbins on the adventure of a lifetime. Oscar winner Jim Broadbent is Lord Badgley, the noble assigned to protect the young queen.
Dolittle also features additional voice performances from another Oscar winner, Marion Cotillard as Tutu, a cunning and courageous fox; Tom Holland as Jip, an intelligent and loyal long-haired lurcher dog that is sight-challenged; Selena Gomez as Betsy, an escape-artist giraffe; Craig Robinson as Kevin, an injured squirrel who is equal parts brash, honest and spiteful; and Frances de la Tour as an ancient dragon who suffers from gastrointestinal distress.
Jason Mantzoukas voices James, the bug-eyed dragonfly who serves as Dolittle and Stubbins’ insect-on-the-inside at Montverde, Ralph Fiennes is the gold- toothed Barry, a ferocious and troubled tiger with mummy issues.
CREATING A CHARACTER
Downey chose to make Dolittle a Welshman. “The character is someone who has become a hermit due to trauma or emotional disappointment,” says the 54-year-old.“He’s taken it upon himself to help animals only but he’s really given up on humanity. I thought it’d be even better if he’s Welsh because even though the Welsh are part of England, they give the English a lot of guff.”
That creative choice, however, presented some unforeseen challenges.
“It was the single hardest accent on Earth and it drove me crazy.
“For the movie, however, it will be able to stand up to scrutiny. It’s close to a Gaelic-origin language and I had a lot of fun doing it.
“Michael Sheen gave me some tips. I also brought in Welsh dialogue coach Andrew Jack and Welsh consultant Tim Treloar,” says Downey.
While Dolittle is a larger-than-life character in Lofting’s novels, Downey’s Dolittle is far more complex.
“Downey wanted to craft an authentic character who was quirky and vulnerable,” says co-producer Jeff Kirschenbaum.
“Downey was also focused on how we could take this movie and expand its appeal to the audience.
“Downey was constantly coming up with ideas and characters. He is much like Dolittle himself, wrapping his arms around everybody around him. In front of the camera and behind it, he is incredibly inclusive and generous.”
The director also appreciates Downey’s mercurial intellect.
“At any moment, he could make you laugh. But he’s also a little bit dangerous,” Gaghan says, “and that’s the Dolittle that we find. Dolittle is smarter than everyone else. He has shut the world away and lives with a family of animals because he doesn’t want to deal with humans.
“The animals do what he wants but operate in conspiracies around him. Downey plays off that. He has a physical-comedy gene and can do the most technical acting. When we meet him in the film, Dolittle has moved from mourning to self-pity. The animals are tired of it and all this is the stew from which Downey builds his character.”
WORKING WITH YOUNG SIDEKICK
Collett’s Tommy Stubbins is a mischievous boy who cares for animals deeply. He decides he wants to learn from Dolittle once he sees what the doctor can do.
The 12-year-old also longs to find his place in the world — one far outside his tiny village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh.
Dolittle later begrudgingly takes this brave, skillful apprentice under his wing.
Proving himself adept at the most hidden of languages, Stubbins will discover his own power — alongside the wonders of the world that are hidden to almost all of humankind.
Gaghan loved seeing Downey and the young Collett, who is now 16, together.
“In the dynamic of life on set, you had this masterful, Chaplin-esque actor working with someone who is all instinct,” Gaghan says.
“Their working relationship mirrored their on-screen mentor/mentee relationship. One is all instinct and talent, who wants to get to where the other guy is. Downey handled it with aplomb and good spirits.”
Collett’s scene partner is the first to rave about the young actor’s skillset.
“Harry is a rising talent and a star,” Downey says.
“I remember seeing his screen test and we went ‘Oh, my God. I wonder if that’s what Tom Cruise was like when he was 11.’ But he’s very much his own guy and a really capable kid.”
Downey laughs, saying: “My mentorship programme to the next generation of actors continues.”
“We did a worldwide search for Stubbins and saw thousands of boys. Collett didn’t have as much experience as a lot of the others but there was something genuine and naturally inquisitive in him. We wanted somebody who just felt real, and that wonderment in his eyes is real.”
Collett calls it “an education on set” working with Downey.
“He’s like a film in himself. He knows every camera angle. He can see it. He puts in ideas and he helps out the director. He can do every single job on set because of how much he knows from previous movies he’s done.”
STELLAR CAST
Among the cast of this production is Banderas, who plays the pirate king Rassouli.
Rassouli is no fan of Dolittle and he also holds a deep secret about the good doctor. There’s also a journal that he has that holds the key to Dolittle’s destination: the mystical Eden Tree Island.
Rassouli loves his cats and sleeps with lions near him.
While Downey and Banderas have met over the decades, they have never had the opportunity to work together.
“He recently opened a theatre in Spain and had just come off the Genius series, where he played Picasso,” says Downey.
“Banderas slays it as Rassouli. He is fantastic,” he exclaims.
Banderas prefers to attack his roles as if he is jumping off a cliff — without knowing if he will fall into rocks or into the water.
He took that approach with Rassouli and found his first day on set to be one of the most intense of the production.
“The first scenes that I have are in the dungeon, and Rassouli has just put Stubbins and Dolittle in there,” Banderas says.
The actor also appreciated the banter and repartee he shared with Downey during the production.
“It has to do with chemistry, timing, rhythm and understanding of what you are doing.
“It is something that is in your skin. I had that with Downey. It’s like proposing a game and the other person says, ‘I know what that game is; I want to play with you.’ I saw that in Robert I think he saw that in me too.”
Courtesy of United International Pictures