Iron Man (2008 film) in casting Downey, but would not take no for an answer, saying, "It was my job as a director to show that it was the best choice creatively ... everybody knew he was talented [and] certainly by studying the Iron Man role and developing that script I realized that the character seemed to line-up with Robert in all the good and bad ways. Downey earned $500,000 for the role. While preparing for filming, Favreau and Downey were given a tour of SpaceX by Elon Musk. Downey said, "Elon was someone Tony probably hung out with and partied with, or more
Robert Downey Jr. named Downey the worst "SNL" cast member in its entire run, stating that the "Downey Fail sums up everything that makes "SNL" great." That same year, Downey had a dramatic acting breakthrough when he played James Spader's sidekick in "Tuff Turf" and then a bully in John Hughes's "Weird Science". He was considered for the role of Duckie in John Hughes's film "Pretty in Pink" (1986), but his first lead role was with Molly Ringwald in "The Pick-up Artist" (1987). Because of these and other coming-of-age films Downey did during the 1980s, he is sometimes named as a member of