So thrilled was Robert Downey Jr at being cast in the super-hero movie Iron Man his wife had to tell him to calm down. "I was so excited that Susan – Mrs Downey – was like 'You've got to sleep. You're like a baby that won't go down for its nap'," recalled the star recently.
And the actor's energy levels didn't appear to have dropped any as he hit the promotional trail for the movie in Australia. Surrounded by eager fans and showbiz friends like Naomi Watts and her partner Liev Schreiber, the charismatic actor was in his element at the film's Sydney premiere.
As well as signing countless autographs, the former Hollywood hell-raiser made sure the snappers got plenty of pictures of him with a likeness of his muscle-bound screen alter ego.
In the film, which also features Samuel L Jackson and Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert plays billionaire playboy Tony Stark, who becomes the armour-clad avenger of the title. Preparing for the role involved intensive gym workouts that represented "1,500 hours of effort for every 11 seconds of screen time" quipped the star, who was understandably keen to show off the results.