Iron Man Actor Talks About Chaos of Making the "$200 Million Student Film"

While 2007's The Incredible Hulk was technically the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was the huge success of Iron Man the following year that kick-started the blockbuster superhero franchise. However, actor Jeff Bridges, who played villainous Obadiah Stane in Iron Man, has now revealed that back then the Marvel machine did not run as smoothly as it does today.

Bridges appeared on Variety's PBS show Actors on Actors, where he spoke to fellow actor Matthew McConaughey about the chaotic experience of working on Iron Man with star Robert Downey Jr and director Jon Favreau.

"We read the script, and it wasn't really right," he said. "We had two weeks' rehearsal, and we basically rewrote the script. And the day before we were going to shoot, we get a call from the Marvel guy, saying, 'Oh, no, no, no. None of this is right.'

"So we would muster in my trailer and rehearse while the guys were in the studio tapping their foot, saying, 'When are they going to come?' We were still trying to figure out the [scenes] we were going to shoot."

"Downey's saying, 'You try my part, I'll try your part,' Favreau calling up writer friends [saying], 'Now here's this scene, what do you think?' And it's driving me crazy! I'm p**sed!"

Nevertheless, Bridges explains that he ultimately found a way to make the experience work. "I made a little adjustment in my head. That adjustment was: 'Jeff, just relax, you are in a $200 million student film, have fun, just relax.'"

Despite the problems, Iron Man went on to make more than $585 million at the worldwide box office, and was followed by two even more successful sequels.