Robert Downey Jr left jars of his own p*ss lying around set while filming Zodiac

Robert Downey Jr would leave jars of his own urine hanging around the set while filming Zodiac. Do you ever feel like we all know too much about celebrities these days?

Downey starred as US journalist Paul Avery alongside Jack Gyllenhaal as cartoonist Robert Graysmith and Mark Ruffalo as Inspector Dave Toschi. You can check out the trailer here:

For those who haven’t seen it, the movie centres on the manhunt for real-life Zodiac serial killer, who is responsible for at least five murders in the San Francisco Bay Area between December 1968 and October 1969 - but who claimed to have killed 37. The killer, who taunted cops with cryptic messages, was never caught.

Zodiac, directed by David Fincher, the mystery thriller was a huge hit - scooping a handful of awards as well as being voted the 12th best movie of the 21st century in a poll from the BBC.

However, behind the scenes things were a bit tense, to say the least, with Downey and Fincher regularly butting heads on set.

Warner Bros

Fincher is reportedly a hard taskmaster and would think nothing of demanding the cast and crew re-shoot a scene up to 70 times, Farout reports.

This is at odds with Downey’s more spontaneous approach towards making films.

Speaking to the New York Times about his time working with Fincher, Downey said: “Sometimes it’s really hard because it might not feel collaborative, but ultimately filmmaking is a director’s medium.

“I just decided, aside from several times I wanted to garrote him, that I was going to give him what he wanted. I think I’m a perfect person to work for him, because I understand gulags.”

Warner Bros

The Fincher-run setup was so time-consuming that it meant some cast members complained about not having enough time to use the toilet between takes - among those annoyed was Downey.

Speaking on Keanu Reeves’ documentary Side by Side, Fincher revealed that Downey would place jars of his own urine around the set as an act of protest.

He recalled: “Robert Downey actually came up to me and said, ‘I can’t work like this. I never get to go to my trailer, I can never get my s**t together. I’m on my feet 14 hours a day.’ He actually left mason jars of urine on the set, like over in the corner. He’d pee and bring it back as a form of protest."

Lovely.

Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at UNILAD who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats.