I’m not going to start out by saying how cute this kid is or how talented he is or how well mannered he is. Well okay, maybe I will start out by saying that because once I met Ty Simpkins my mommy senses kicked in and I was just awed by his politeness and ability to handle himself like the little man that he is. And I immediately scanned the room looking for the parents responsible for birthing such a courteous kid.
It’s a mom’s instinct when we come across an amazing talent or any polite kid like Ty Simpkins, the 
break-out star of this summer’s blockbuster Iron Man 3 movie. And you better believe Ty can hold his own on-screen against one of Hollywood’s finest, Robert Downey Jr.
I got the chance to meet Ty along with 24 other bloggers during an Iron Man 3 premiere event in Los Angeles. And even up against a roomful of moms who probably just wanted to pinch his cheeks, Ty sat up straight, looked the audience straight in the eye and told us all about his on-screen experience and most importantly, how much he adores his true-life hero, Robert Downey Jr.
When asked what it was like to work with Robert Downey Jr. Ty said, “Like literally Robert Downey Jr. is my favorite person.” He said he also loves Chris Evans (who plays Captain America) and Johnny Depp (Pirate of the Carribean). I think he has a preference for superheroes. 🙂
Ty said he landed the Iron Man 3 part as Harley, a kid who helps Tony Stark get his life back on track, by attending a top secret audition.
“It was so top secret that we couldn’t look at the script until we got to the audition. It was really easy ’cause it was only two scenes that were short,” he said.
Landing the roll still wasn’t a sure thing, he said. “Then … we got a callback. And I was like, oh, okay, cool, cool. This is awesome. I can’t believe I got a callback. So we went to the call back. The producers, the directors were there. And we went through the scene only with one more scene. And that was a bit more difficult to learn because it was longer. It was a giant monologue– like a paragraph,” he explained.
From there Ty said he was invited back to a chemistry reading with Robert Downey Jr. He was finally going to meet the man he truly admired. And was he scared to meet the Iron Man? “No,” he said confidently. “I was just really excited to meet him.”
That chemistry reading sparkled and the rest is Iron Man movie history. Ty plays the smart and helpful wing-man to Tony Stark and assists in helping him get his life back on track after Mandarin and his henchmen wreak havoc on his home.
So what was the most challenging part of working with a giant like Robert Downey Jr?
“Um, one line kept getting like annoying,” Ty said, “And I had to say retro-reflection panels. [LAUGHTER] And it was really hard. And then once the day was over I knew how to say it. That happens a lot.”
It can be daunting going from all the glitz and glamour of star-studded, red-carpet premieres to a stuffy old reading class at school. But between playing baseball, fencing, and making Lego stop motion videos, Ty said he manages it all pretty well. “Sometimes if we’re still in LA on the breaks we’ll still go back and go to school and stuff. And I’ll see my friends a lot. And then we film. And I have a studio teacher to teach me unless I’m in summer.”
When asked if his friends were excited about him being in Iron Man he said, “A lot of them are.”
Ty really makes his mark in the Iron Man 3 movie and it’s evident that this kid is going to be around for a bit.
“Like” IRON MAN 3 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ironman
“Follow” IRON MAN 3 on Twitter: @Iron_Man
Visit the website: http://marvel.com/ironman3
Disclosure: I was invited to Los Angeles for an all-exclusive premiere of Iron Man 3. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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