Although criticized at the time for its academic style, Chaplin remains an essential film in more ways than one. Not only because it retraces the extraordinary journey of an exceptional artist, but also because it gives Robert Downey Jr. one of his greatest roles, if not his finest performance.
Chaplin: the sublime biopic with Robert Downey Jr. returns in 4K
Yet the choice of the actor was not obvious. Attenborough had auditioned many actors, among them Dustin Hoffman, Billy Crystal, and Robin Williams. Universal, which was initially supposed to finance the film, considered Robert Downey Jr. insufficiently well-known (he had not yet made Iron Man...) and would have preferred a more bankable star. The director refused to back down and stood by his choice, even if it meant seeing the project's financing waver. History would prove him right: Downey Jr. would be nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor and would win the Bafta for his performance.
Family resemblance
Another detail for your dinner-party conversations: Geraldine Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's daughter, plays in the film... Hannah Chaplin, her own grandmother. When she discovered Robert Downey Jr. made up as Charlie Chaplin, she told Attenborough that she felt as if she were seeing her father again. The actor was nevertheless only 27 at the time.