Robert Downey Jr. recalls the most unlikely cameo of his career (that you may never have noticed)

Maybe you don’t remember it, or you’ve never noticed it, but Robert Downey Jr. appears in a cameo memorable in the film The Nice Guys Of Shane Blackdated 2016. Almost a decade later, the star returned to talk about the successful action comedy starring Ryan Gosling e Russell Crowewho join forces to expose a conspiracy and an environmental scandal.

Holland March (Gosling) is a private investigator who collects gaffes, lives with his daughter Holly and makes a living solving small cases. Jackson Healy (Crowe) is a bruiser who follows a bizarre moral code. Their paths cross when March is hired to search Amelia Kuttner (Margaret Qualley), while Healy is paid to keep March away from Amelia. The two, obviously, end up working together against their will. During the investigations, they follow the trail of a certain man Sid Shattuckambiguous film producer. Too bad that Holland accidentally finds his body in the woods.

Given the condition of the body, bloodied and with a disfigured face, many may not have realized that Sid Shattuck is played by none other than Robert Downey Jr. in person. That’s right: the Marvel icon did a uncredited cameoplaying a corpse. In September 2025, on the occasion of the release of Play Dirtylatest effort by Shane Blackthe director and Downey did an interview as a duo and discussed the hilarious cameo. The actor jokingly asked, “Am I credited in the credits?”

Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr.: a long-standing partnership

It is unknown whether Downey was paid for the cameo or whether he did it out of friendship, since Black is, in a sense, the person to whom he owes his rise in Hollywood. The director made his debut in 2005 with Kiss Kiss Bang Bangin which Robert Downey Jr. starred Harry Lockhart: A thief who pretends to be an actor gets involved in a murder investigation. The film didn’t make a splash at the box office, but it changed the star’s life. In 2016, at the microphones of The Hollywood ReporterDowney admitted that it was right Kiss Kiss Bang Bang to attract the attention of Jon Favreaudirector of Iron Man and interpreter of Happy Hogan.

It became my calling card for Iron Man.

Favreau appreciated the actor’s performance in the noir comedy and was very insistent that he should play it Tony Starkgiving his professional life the turning point it needed. Shane Black and Downey, however, reunited in 2013 for Iron Man 3 .

Play Dirty: what is Robert Downey Jr.’s role in Shane Black’s new film?

Play Dirty – Triple Gamean adrenaline-filled heist movie available in streaming on Prime Videofeatures protagonists Mark Wahlberg e LaKeith Stanfieldgrappling with a heist that will pit them against the New York mafia. Robert Downey Jr. he had been the first choice to play the protagonist, but then abandoned the role. However, it is involved as executive producer with his Team Downey.