Iron Man 3 Movie Interview with Ty Simpkins #IronMan3Event

Iron Man is now in theaters and you have to go see it. In my review of the movie my husband said that I didn’t do it justice. He loved the movie. He went on an on about how awesome it was and that I forgot to mention that YOU MUST STAY UNTIL THE END OF THE CREDITS. You know I can’t say any more than that because I’m not about to give anything away. Plus I want to not think about it too much because I haven’t seen it yet.

Anyway, I’m using my resources to keep you guys up to date on all things Iron Man. Here is the Ty Simpkins Interview I was able to get my hands on!

Q: What’s your favorite aspect of your character?
Ty Simpkins: I think my favorite aspect of being my character is that I get to meet Tony Stark. But I’m similar to him. Because I’m like a genius in the movie. And he’s a genius in the movie, of course, more of a genius than my character, but– [LAUGHTER]

Q: Have you always been a fan of Marvel movies?
Ty Simpkins: Yes, I have. I love the Marvel movies.

Q: Do you have a favorite hero?
Ty Simpkins: Iron Man. I mean it’s been my dream.

Q: How does it feel to be working with Robert?
Ty Simpkins: Oh, it’s awesome. Like literally Robert Downey Jr. is my favorite person. [LAUGHTER]

Q: How did you get into acting?
Ty Simpkins: So I’ve been acting since (before) I was born. I was still in my mom’s stomach when the people called and asked me to be on this– I think it was like at– it was either a TV show or a soap opera. I’m not sure. But they asked me. They asked my mom. And she said I’m not born yet. Then they said we’ll wait. So–

Q: What was your biggest challenge during filming?
Ty Simpkins: Um, one line kept getting like annoying. 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.

Q: How do you find a healthy life balance?
Ty Simpkins: So like sometimes if we’re still in LA on the breaks we’ll still go back and go to school and stuff. I’ll see my friends a lot. Then we film. I have a studio teacher to teach me unless I’m in summer. I still have a studio teacher. But I don’t learn.

Q: What are some favorite non-acting activities?
Ty Simpkins: I like to bay– play baseball. I like to fence. Yeah. I like to make, uh, Lego stop motion videos.

Q: What’s your next project?
Ty Simpkins: So I just finished Insidious 2. That comes out in September. I’m really excited for this movie called Conversations with Andy. It’s about a sixth grade kid who is like having a tough time with his family. Like they’re getting a divorce and stuff. Then he meets Andy Warhol. Andy helps him out and stuff. So I’m really excited for that.

Q: Are stunts fun?
Ty Simpkins: Yeah, I love doing my stunts. It’s– it’s really fun.

Q: How is it not working with your sister?
Ty Simpkins: So there is a different dynamic. I feel more kind of focused I guess you could say ’cause my sister is a little rivalry. But we get along a lot.

I enjoy filming movies with my sister, but I also enjoy not filming movies. So like it’s good once in a while to like film with your family and other times just to kind of do it with yourself.

Q: Who are your biggest role models?
Ty Simpkins: So there’s Robert Downey Jr. Um, Chris Evans. Johnny Depp. And, uh, that’s it.

Q: What’s your favorite genre to film?
Ty Simpkins: Genre? Um, I don’t think I’ve done comedy. I’m not sure. But I do like Action Adventure ’cause this is just awesome filming in Iron Man, especially when you’re like with the main guy. Like you’re helping him and stuff. That’s pretty fun.

Q: How did you react to getting the part?
Ty Simpkins: I screamed yes. [LAUGHTER] I was really excited. I was at a cello class. And it kind of just made it even better, cello even better.

Q: Who is your biggest supporter?
Ty Simpkins: My biggest supporter? My mom. [APPLAUSE]

Q: What’s your favorite way to pass time on set?
Ty Simpkins: Oh, well, it depends. Like if I’m in summer I usually hang out with like the studio teacher, like the one that was on this set was pretty awesome ’cause she had an iPad. And like she had like educational games, there was one really cool called Oregon Trail. [CROWD RESPONSES] But they made a modified version. And that’s just really awesome. [LAUGHTER]

Q: How did you get the part?
Ty Simpkins: So the first um,we got a call from my agent. I was really excited. I’m like, oh, this is so cool. Then we went to the audition. But 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– or, no, it was a scene that was short. So, it was pretty easy.

Then we hadn’t heard for a while. 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. 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 paragraph.

And then we hadn’t heard for an even longer time. Our agent said that we gotta chemistry read with Robert Downey Jr. And I was really excited for that. So we flew out there. That was in North Carolina where we filmed the movie and I was looking around. I was like where is Robert Downey Jr.?

I couldn’t find him. And they were just introducing me to everyone. And then there was a guy with a hat and glasses. And I just completely looked past him. And then the lady that was introducing me to everyone said and you know who this is. And the guy took off the hat and the glasses. And it was Robert Downey Jr. I mean it was a really disguise. I don’t know how I missed it. [LAUGHTER]