The Nice Guys is one of the most overlooked buddy-cop movies of the 2010s, and in addition to the big stars playing the lead characters, it also features Robert Downey Jr. in an odd and uncredited role. The movie is set in the 1970s and follows two very different private detectives, Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), with two very different approaches to their sketchy line of work. They reluctantly work together to try and solve a missing person case, only to learn that it's the start of a conspiracy way bigger than they could have ever imagined.
One clue leads Holland and Jackson to a party at a mansion in the Hollywood Hills, which is home to a giant mermaid-filled aquarium, models painted in gold, and tons of other entertaining features. Though he can easily be missed, Robert Downey Jr. is at the party, too. Robert Downey Jr. only did five non-Marvel movies in the 2010s, including The Nice Guys, though it barely counts given that it's a cameo with no lines. But the scene is that much funnier once it becomes clear which character he's playing. And while Downey's appearance might seem out of place, there is some history behind it.
Robert Downey Jr. Plays A Dead Guy
During the party scene in The Nice Guys, Holland and Jackson look for Sid Shattuck, a wealthy pornographer, as the detectives believe the missing girl was hanging out with him. They search the whole mansion, but he's nowhere to be seen. It's only when Holland drunkenly falls over the balcony, down a hill, and into the woods that they have any luck. There, Holland finds a bloody corpse, which just so happens to be Sid Shattuck. Though it's hard to tell given that it's nighttime, and he's covered in blood, the body is played by Robert Downey Jr.
As Downey is paid tens of millions of dollars for each time he plays Iron Man in the MCU, it comes as a surprise that he'd take such a nothing-role like the one in The Nice Guys. While Downey has had cameo roles in movies before, such as his performance as Marvin in Chef and his appearance as Tony Stark at the end of The Incredible Hulk, none have been as random and bemusing as this. However, it's totally ridiculous that while Downey's Nice Guys character is just a dead body, he still has a full name and backstory.
Downey & Shane Black Have History
The reason why Robert Downey Jr. played a dead guy in The Nice Guys is similar to why he had a cameo in Chef, which was helmed by Iron Man director Jon Favreau. The Nice Guys is directed by Shane Black, who also directed Downey in Iron Man 3 and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The latter is one of Black's Christmas-themed crime capers, just like The Nice Guys, and it also follows two unlikely partners trying to solve crimes. One of those partners is Harry Lockhart (Downey), a thief-turned-actor who shadows a private investigator for a movie role.
Harry Lockhart is the performance that completely revived Downey's career following a string of personal issues. Favreau is even on record as saying that it was Downey's performance in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that made him want to cast the actor as Tony Stark, which was something that Marvel Studios was totally opposed to at the time (via SlashFilm). So, along with Black directing the actor in two movies, Downey has him to thank for his successful and extremely lucrative 2010s career. Although playing a dead guy in The Nice Guys fits Downey's well-documented sense of humor, he wouldn't do that for just anyone.