Robert Downey, Jr. may take a shot at playing Hamlet. The controversial actor (who was recently released from a drug rehabilitation center) is talking about starring as the melancholy Dane in an L.A. production directed by Mel Gibson, who played the same role in a 1990 film.

The news was announced by a Hollywood publicist for the two performers, but there were no details as to the production team, the site and other casting. Chances are, said the spokesperson, that the production would be in a small theatre, perhaps a 99-seater or even a loft--"the motivation is the work, not the ticket sales."

Gibson and Downey are set to meet for a private reading of the play on Sept. 30.

Downey's many films include "Black and White," "Two Girls and a Guy," "Chaplin" and "Natural Born Killers."

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent