Robert Downey Jr. walks out of awkwardly personal interview

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Thursday, April 23, 2015

In a taped interview with a British news outlet, Robert Downey Jr. became uncomfortable with an unexpected line of questioning, and walked out of the interview with the camera still rolling.

Video starts at 4:58, just before Downey Jr. makes his exit

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In an interview to promote the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron, Channel 4's Krishnan Guru-Murthy tried to steer his interview with Downey Jr. away from the film and onto the actor's dark past.

After speaking a great deal about the film and his portrayal of Tony Stark/Iron Man, Guru-Murthy unexpectedly changed the subject, asking about a quote Downey Jr. reportedly gave to the New York Times about how his political views had changed while he was in prison.

"Things you said in an interview that made sense to you at the time, I could pick that apart for two hours and and be no closer to the truth," responded Downey Jr. When Guru-Murthy reiterated the same question, Downey Jr. balked, "Are we promoting a movie?"

Downey Jr. obliged Guru-Murthy by repeating his previous response, and Guru-Murthy stumbled to tell the actor that Channel 4 would like to not just talk about the film, but also about Downey Jr. himself.

"You have as much time as anybody else will," quipped Downey Jr. with a smile, though becoming obviously uncomfortable.

When Guru-Murthy warned that his questions would become more personal, Downey Jr. gave a glance to a person off-camera, who can be heard asking that the interview be brought to a close.

"Your foot's starting to jump a little bit -- you better get to your next question," said Downey Jr., wanting to press ahead quickly.

But Guru-Murthy's next question was an unwelcome bombshell, asking the actor to share about his previous struggle with drug addiction and his father's influence.

Before the question was finished, Downey Jr. stopped it there: "I'm sorry, what are we doing?"

As Guru-Murthy denies any wrongdoing, offscreen representatives can be heard shutting the interview down. Downey Jr., elated at this news simply tells the interviewer "Bye" with a smile and a wave.

As Downey Jr. gives his microphone back to the producer, he tells Guru-Murthy, "You seem OK, but it's getting a little Diane Sawyer-y."

This is not the first time Guru-Murthy has made a filmmaker uncomfortable with his personal questioning during an interview promoting a film. In 2013, director Quentin Tarantino infamously ended the line of questioning while promoting Django Unchained by saying "I'm shutting your butt down."