In 2009, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who was making loads of money for The Walt Disney Company via his “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “National Treasure” franchises, decided the world was ready for a four-quadrant, live-action/animation hybrid adventure about a guinea pig strike force that saves the planet from an evil billionaire played by Bill Nighy. Rockwell was basically the star as the voice of Darwin, the leader of our furry heroes. The film earned $293 million on a reported $150 million budget, which was just enough for Disney to claim success without feeling obligated to make a sequel.
Joining Rockwell as the voice of a heavily armed guinea pig was Jon Favreau, who’d just launched the MCU’s Avengers Initiative as the director of 2008’s “Iron Man.” Rockwell had been in the running for the role of cocky industrialist Tony Stark, which vaulted Robert Downey Jr. to long-deserved superstardom, and it’s not hard to see why; he’s got Downey’s gift for improvisation and, not for nothing, is a pretty good looking dude.
So Favreau, who was developing “Iron Man 2” at the time, pitched Rockwell on playing the Stark-like villain of the highly anticipated sequel. There was just one problem: Favreau didn’t have a script.
Sam Rockwell is one of the best parts of Iron Man 2, and voicing a guinea pig in a silly children’s movie helped get him the job. Read More