Robert Downey Jr. reflects on his Saturday Night Live experience

Robert Downey Jr. looks back at his one season as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.

Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. It will undoubtedly be the role he is most known for and no discussion or interview with Downey will not make some reference to his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yet Saturday Night Live is another long-running franchise in which Downey played a part.

Downey joined the cast of Saturday Night Live for season 11 which ran from Nov. 1985 through May 1986. It was a challenging season for the show despite the return of Lorne Michaels as producer and Jim Downey acting as head writer. Much of the criticism came from the lack of comedy experience among the cast and the difficulties writers had in coming up with sketches for the performers.

The low ratings of season 11 led to the firing of nearly the entire cast including Robert Downey Jr. Season 12 got back on track thanks to the hiring of Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, and Jan Hooks. But despite only sticking around for one season, Downey looks back fondly on his time at Saturday Night Live as he told Off Camera with Sam Jones:

Downey credits his Weird Science costar Anthony Michael Hall for encouraging him, or perhaps forcing him, to audition for Saturday Night Live. Obviously Downey’s avant-garde and bizarre approach to his audition aligned with what the show was looking for that season and he landed a spot in the cast.

Fans familiar with Downey’s work since Iron Man or who have seen his interviews know that the actor is naturally witty and can be very funny. But that doesn’t always mean that it can work on a sketch comedy show like Saturday Night Live. Downey seems to understand this, noting that he wasn’t the type to come up with a popular catch phrase, a zany character, or a famous impersonation.

To put it in perspective, Downey is credited for 16 episodes of Saturday Night Live. He played Tony Stark/Iron Man in 10 different Marvel movies. His short run in what is considered one of the worst seasons in SNL history are why in 2015 Rolling Stone magazine named Downey the worst cast member of all time.

Downey makes a quick reference to the ranking in this interview and dismisses it as not true. The magazine acknowledged Downey’s comedic talents and more or less used him as a symbolic sacrifice for the debacle that was season 11. It is also likely that Rolling Stone knew that whoever was named the worst cast member would get just as much attention as the best. So naming Downey, who was at the time at the height of his Avengers popularity, helped get the list more press.

Overall it sounds like Downey can look back at his Saturday Night Live days in a positive light. It was an exciting experience to be in the fast-paced world of live sketch comedy surrounded by the most famous people in entertainment at any given show.

Downey even came back to host the show in 1996 so he still has a good relationship with the show and Lorne Michaels. You can check out some sketches featuring Downey below and decide for yourself how he did.

Saturday Night Live has been adding more vintage sketches to its YouTube channel so it will be interesting to see how it handles season 11. It is possible that they will try to find the best options featuring Robert Downey Jr., even if that proves a bit challenging. Stay tuned.