I was wondering- have you all ever read any deep dives or profiles on how Jon Favreau went from initial fame from Swingers to basically being one of the few go-to guys for Star Wars and Marvel films and series?
Also, Go Democrats!
by John Cole| 42 Comments
This post is in: John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House"
I was wondering- have you all ever read any deep dives or profiles on how Jon Favreau went from initial fame from Swingers to basically being one of the few go-to guys for Star Wars and Marvel films and series?
Also, Go Democrats!
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What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
Talent?
Chris
I guess he was so money and he didn’t even know it.
Yarrow
I saw a clip from Swingers the other day and wow were they babies.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
He did one of the early Iron Man movies and that worked out well. That probably started him down the path to the rest though how he got picked for that first one I don’t know.
He also did Elf, which is great.
sab
Deep dive? No, never did even a shallow paddle.
MagdaInBlack
@sab: I had to look him up. Nope, haven’t even dipped a toe in.
WaterGirl
Guessing we are not talking about Jon Favreau, one of the Obama bros?
Manyakitty
It was that guest star arc on Friends where he played Monica’s rich boyfriend.
sab
@WaterGirl: Who knows? As usual, I am clueless.
sab
@Manyakitty: Seriously. The sortof wrestling or whatever guy?
mrmoshpotato
No idea.
Barbara
Just dropping in to say that I watched a documentary on Hulu called Never Let Him Go, which is a true crime story but is really about the search for justice and equal treatment for LGBTQ people. It doesn’t just help, but really, it was essential, that the victim’s brother was a tech millionaire who could never stop trying to find out – for 30 years – what happened when his brother was found at the foot of a cliff in Sydney harbor Australia. Worth watching, but warning that there are flashbacks and discussion of the early days of HIV.
Yarrow
For everyone who says they don’t know who he is, here’s Jon Favreau’s IMDB page.
Anonymous At Work
Favreau loves making movies. It’s what separates a lot of good films makers from mediocre or flash-in-pan ones. It’s the difference between Airplane! or Super Troopers from bad parody movies.
Alison Rose
John, this will be of interest to you. From my friend and former coworker David Lemieux, the Dead’s archivist:
And considering there will be more to come, I assume they’ll take the lead soon!
Manyakitty
@sab: yes, and I think he owned the 50s diner where she had to wear the poodle skirt and fake boobs.
And the wrestling thing is because Monica overheard him talking to a (fighting) ring designer and hilarity ensued.
trollhattan
Loved Swingers and found Jon Favreau utterly annoying in that role, so…good acting? Naturally, the beautiful babies loved him.
As touchstone, is Swingers to the ’90s what Repo Man is to the ’80s?
BethanyAnne
My more nervous kitty is sleeping within arm’s reach. I always love that. Starting up Fallout: New Vegas just to listen to Benny’s intro speech again. RIP Matthew Perry.
ChasM
The deal is Swingers at that time was such an insiders hit that it basically made him early. Every young punk trying to get into the business at that time could not only recite every line, get every awkward joke, but also go have mojitos at the Dresden and sing along with Marty and Elaine on Saturday night (and then head over to The Olive hoping for a glimpse of part owner David Lynch).
And then he went about perfecting his craft. Quietly, persistently, brilliantly.
MomSense
I think my favorite role of his is Chef and the cooking series he did, The Chef Show, with Roy Choi is fantastic.
Yarrow
@ChasM: Yeah, it kind of seems like he is where he is because he’s worked hard at it and loves it. That’ll take you a long way.
Marmot
@trollhattan:
Oooh, good question. I’m not sure what it means, though. Anyway, Dude, Where’s My Car? is the Repo Man of the ‘90s.
Jeffro
I haven’t read much about him but he’s listed as “executive producer” on most everything Marvel puts out these days (and some Star Wars/Disney stuff, too)
So he’s gettin’ a cut of everything. It’s like being the first person to ever sell Amway, only better! ;)
(only person with a better job imho is Adam Clayton of U2)
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@WaterGirl: When The Mandalorian came out (with Favreau writing and directing), I assumed they were the same person.
I was a little disappointed when I eventually found out they were not the same.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Me too!
Ksmiami
@ChasM: don’t forget the Good luck bar… I lived in Fairfax La Brea…
ChasM
@trollhattan: Comedy wise, I’d put Swingers as an early example of cringe, which of course is fully realized in shows like Curb…
ChasM
@Ksmiami: I am absolutely sure I’ve forgotten more bars from that time than I remember.
phein64
@MomSense: Chef is a great small movie. He has a number of very notable costars (Downey, Vergara, Platt, Leguizamo, Johannson, Hoffman, Cannavale), and the kid is not only great but a dead ringer for a friend of my sons. Truly a labor of love, in the best possible way.
eclare
@Manyakitty:
Yes, that is what comes to mind for me.
But I’m not a comic book movie fan.
eclare
@Barbara:
Wow. That sounds really good. Thank you.
Ksmiami
@phein64: that kid has been in a ton of films – Bad Moms, it’s Complicated etc
Martin
Basically, Marvel was trying to make the movie transition work, and it wasn’t working. Their early films mostly sucked. Favreau was executive producer and director for Iron Man, and made a good decision in picking the writers for the film, and managed to land Downey Jr for the role.
So producing/directing a film in a franchise where everything before either sucked or was so-so (Spiderman) wasn’t that hard to get. Downey Jr wound up being the *perfect* actor for the role, and it’s unclear to me if the script was equally well suited or if that really didn’t come together until Downey Jr was on board (his suitability for the role suggests that the character was to some degree rewritten for him). But my understanding is that Downey Jr was a fan of the comic as was Favreau, and they fought the studio pretty hard for the film we got – which isn’t really what the studio was thinking. And well, it was a massive hit so when Disney bought Marvel the next year, they put the people who got it in charge and wiped out the folks on the stuff that sucked. Marvel was this kind of bolt-on studio to Disney, and really relied on Feige to work it out. Favreau got it, so he was kept, and that opened doors to doing The Mandalorian. But he’s not that big of a figure in Marvel – he never directed again after Iron Man 2. Whedon came in and did it bigger and better, Gunn did the goofier Guardians films but kept them close enough to integrate into the big mashup blockbusters, Waikiti pulled the films to be even quirkier. Tim Miller did Deadpool.
MCU is Feige, with a LOT of other directors, some better than others. Favreau is really just part of that soup, but he was the first that really nailed it, and as a result was probably instrumental to that Disney deal going through.
Matt McIrvin
@WaterGirl: It’s not the same guy, it’s the other Jon Favreau.
Currants
Wait isn’t that the speechwriter for Obama? Or are there two?
Robmassing
He also wrote “Swingers.” That opened a lot of doors.
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@Martin: Been along for the ride through a lot of that, as an occasional Marvel fan who grew up with Star Wars. But it’s played out now, I think.
Definitely up for something original from Taika Waititi!
artem1s
@Martin:
do NOT diss the Russo brothers. Fabreau was responsible for making Iron Man a reality, the Russos crafted Cap and The Avengers. I love watching Winter Soldier. They took over downtown Cleveland for a whole summer. It was fun.
TheOtherHank
Zathura!
Alison Rose
@Currants: There are indeed two. You’d think one would go by Jonathan or something to help avoid confusion, LOL
strange visitor (from another planet)
@trollhattan: no. swingers is nothing like nor has nearly the cult following repo man has.
also. no fans of PCU?
imo, chef is one of the greatest things he’s ever made, but yeah, he does great star wars work. him and filoni
@Martin: most of iron man is ad-libbed. they more or less made up the dialogue on the spot.
Mike S
I’ve had a few conversations with Favreau and what struck me the most was how when he decides he wants to do something he puts everything he has into learning everything about it.
But my favorite thing about him is his complete lack of pretentiousness. He has around nine billion in box office receipts and still shows up to interviews by himself. Not even his pr person, let alone an entourage.