Robert Downey Jr. recently encouraged Elon Musk to rein in his behavior, despite acknowledging that he’s only met the tech billionaire “a few times.”

Downey Jr., known for playing the tech-savvy Tony Stark (Iron Man) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, shares an affinity for technology with Musk.

However, the actor and Musk, who has been busy with ventures like launching rockets, appearing at political rallies, and making headlines on social media, don’t cross paths often in real life.

During an interview for New York Magazine’s “On With Kara Swisher” podcast, Swisher remarked that Musk has been “cosplaying” Downey Jr.’s Marvel character, Tony Stark, who first appeared on screen in 2008.

While Stark is based on the Marvel Comics hero, it’s no secret that Musk has influenced the character. In a 2016 interview, Iron Man director Jon Favreau revealed that Musk played a role in shaping Stark’s persona.

Favreau made it clear that Iron Man was “based on the comic book,” but also shared that Downey Jr. and Musk had spent time together, which helped provide “insight into what it’d really be like to be Tony Stark.”

Favreau even mentioned that Musk allowed parts of Iron Man 2 to be filmed at SpaceX, and described Musk as a “very good friend of the Marvel family” at the time.

With Musk now in the public eye more than ever—due to his ownership of Twitter (now X) and his vocal support for Donald Trump—Downey Jr. expressed concern over Musk’s current behavior.

“I’ve only met him a few times. I just wish that he would control his behavior a little more,” the actor said during the podcast.

Downey Jr. also addressed Musk’s ambitious plans to colonize Mars, saying, “This idea of ‘It’s all okay because we’ve gotta get to Mars’ doesn’t really hold water with me.”

Despite this, he acknowledged Musk’s impressive achievements. “You have to look at all that [Musk has] done that demonstrates why he’s valuable,” Downey Jr. added.

The actor reflected on the challenge of separating a person’s actions from their overall value.

“Nowadays separating the individual from their behavior is a tough thing to do because hell is other people—and that has been hijacked in this information age, to divide us rather than allow for discourse, debate, and dialogue,” he said.

While Musk has certainly been an inspiration for Tony Stark, Iron Man screenwriter Mark Fergus revealed to New York Magazine in 2022 that Stark’s character was also influenced by other notable figures, including Donald Trump and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.