Rockwell originally envisioned a more “punk rock” direction for his character, but changed his approach after speaking with friend and former Galaxy Quest costar Alan Rickman. “You know, Sam, keep it simple,” Rockwell recalled the late actor telling him. “When I did Die Hard, I killed someone and ate a sandwich.”
Over the decades, Rockwell tried his hand at a mix of projects—somber indies like sci-fi drama Moon (2009), studio awards contenders including The Green Mile (1999), and mainstream fare like Iron Man 2 (2010). “I was dating Leslie Bibb when Iron Man one came out…. It sort of changed superhero movies,” says Rockwell, whose now real-life partner of nearly 20 years appeared in the first film.
After being cast in the sequel as fast-talking arms dealer Justin Hammer, Rockwell learned that he would share most of his scenes with Mickey Rourke as fellow fictional baddie and Russian physicist Ivan Vanko. “Mickey didn’t want to meet me until we were on camera,” Rockwell remembers. “It was a wild experience…. Because my scenes were dialogue-driven, whereas a lot of [the rest of] it was special effects…it was a surprisingly actor-friendly experience being that it was a studio movie for me.”
