Marvel star Daniel Brühl recalls the time he was most starstruck, which involved a strange invite to Robert Downey Jr.'s "village"

Baron Zemo — (Image credit: Marvel Studios)

In new TV show The Franchise, a satire on the world of superhero filmmaking, actor Daniel Brühl portrays struggling director Eric, who is battling problem after problem whilst helming the next installment in a blockbuster series, a movie on the brink of collapse which is titled 'Tecto: Eye of the Storm'.

One brilliant episode sees an already troubled Eric essentially have a breakdown when he learns that none other than Christopher Nolan, the auteur behind many great films including most recently the Oscar-winning epic Oppenheimer, will be visiting the set to watch him at work. Which got GamesRadar+ thinking – when has Brühl himself been the most starstruck?

Laughing, the actor recalls a moment he shared with his Marvel co-star Robert Downey Jr. on the set of Captain America: Civil War, which saw Brühl portray the villainous Baron Zemo. He reveals to us that he made the Iron Man star laugh so hard, he later received a mysterious invite to Downey Jr.s "village". That's right, the actor has a whole "village" during filming instead of just a singular trailer.

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For Brühl, this was a moment he will never forget, telling us: "I came to this gigantic park like the new kid at school. I really felt like a school boy again. I remember the first day I had with Downey Jr., we had a scene together and I made some sort of joke and he laughed forever. He then said, 'Oh you are funny, do you have allergies?' I was like, 'Allergies?'"

He continues: "Later that day when I was in my trailer happily eating a burrito at lunch, somebody knocked at my door to say, 'You have cordially been invited to Robert Downey Jr.'s village to have lunch'. I was like, 'Village?' I put down my burrito and was driven there. I arrived at his village and there was a huge fence and a bouncer. He treated me so nicely, gave me a present, and I was like, 'This is a dear diary moment'. I was super starstruck."

The Franchise premieres today on Sky and NOW in the UK with its first three episodes. You can watch it weekly in the US via HBO and Max.

For more, check out our guide to the new TV shows heading your way.

Emily Murray is a former Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar+, once responsible for overseeing all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Emily has previously worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more. When Emily isn't writing about film and TV, she can be found cuddling her cat on the sofa, likely bingeing New Girl for the millionth time (Nick Miller is the love of my life). You can also find her waxing lyrical about Christopher Nolan on a podcast dedicated to his filmography.