‘Sr.’ Director Chris Smith On The Things Left Unsaid Between Robert Downey Sr. And His Famous Son -Contenders TV: Docs + Unscripted

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If things had gone as originally planned, director Chris Smith’s Netflix documentary Sr. might have been called Jr. instead.

He initially thought of doing a film about Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr., but the star proposed something different. “We had a meeting at his company and just sort of threw out the idea of doing a documentary on [Robert Downey Jr.],” Smith recalled during an appearance at Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted event. “And very quickly the word came back that he was not interested, but he thought somebody should do a documentary on his dad.” Smith took him up on the idea.

And while the younger Downey plays a big part in the film, the primary focus is on Robert Downey Sr., the underground filmmaker and actor who made satirical and offbeat films like Putney Swope and Chafed Elbows. “I knew of Robert Downey Sr.

but I didn’t really know him or his work that well,” Smith said. “I had seen Putney Swope — which I think a lot of people had — but it wasn’t until Robert [Jr.] sort of pointed us in that direction that I started looking at everything else, and just got a much bigger view of the body of work and the reflection on the person.” RELATED: Contenders Docs + Unscripted Deadline’s Complete Coverage Sr.’s irrepressible love of moviemaking comes through in the film.