Robert Downey Jr.
BACK ON TOP
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.’S LIFE AND CAREER HAS SEEN MANY UPS AND DOWNS, BUT THE PUCKISH ACTOR IS ON THE A-LIST ONCE AGAIN— HOPEFULLY FOR GOOD.
BY BRET LOVE
Filmmakers and audiences alike have always been drawn to themes of redemption. Perhaps that explains our ongoing fascination with Robert Downey Jr., whose life seems to have seen more ups and downs over the course of his career than the elevator at the Empire State Building.
After all, what’s more rewarding than watching a man, who has hit rock bottom on more than one occasion, gradually claw his way to the top with sheer hard work and talent?
Born in 1965 and raised in the artistic enclave of New York City’s Greenwich Village, Downey made his acting debut at the age of five in his independent filmmaker father’s Pound, in which he played a puppy. By the age of 17, he had dropped out of high school and embarked on a full-fledged acting career while working odd jobs ranging from bussing tables to performing as living art at an underground club in SoHo.
His first big break came in 1985, when he co-starred with Anthony Michael Hall in the John Hughes-directed teen flick Weird Science, and the buddies became breakout cast members on “Saturday Night Live.” Downey was just 20 (and Michael Hall a mere 17 years old), making more money than he’d ever dreamed of—and fully embraced a wild and reckless celebrity lifestyle.
“We asked for [John] Belushi and [Dan] Akroyd’s office. We were… being crazy,” Downey says, shaking his head slightly at the memory. “I always wanted a higher challenge, and I was always down for a good time.”
By 1987, the “Brat Pack” member was getting above-the-title credits opposite Molly Ringwald in The Pick-Up Artist and Andrew McCarthy in Less Than Zero. Downey garnered considerable acclaim for his star-making performance in the latter, an adaptation of the classic Bret Easton Ellis novel about excessive drug use among post-adolescents in Beverly Hills. But as the self-indulgent ’80s gave way to the navel-gazing ’90s, rumors began spreading that the actor had taken his Less Than Zero role as an out-of-control partier to heart.
“I know what it’s like to have something that you can’t let go of,” Downey says, “and to be so attached to that imagined thing that you can turn to [it] and experience grace, if only for a second. Sometimes you’ll give away the rest of the day for a chance to experience grace for a second. I think that goes back to our innate need to feel connected, even if that connection has terrible side effects.”
But despite the fact that his lifestyle continued to lead him down an increasingly dark path, Downey’s career continued to flourish. Mainstream box office successes such as Air America and Soapdish made him one of young Hollywood’s hottest properties, while an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his richly layered role in Chaplin, the biopic of the troubled silent film star Charlie Chaplin, established his credentials as a serious thespian. But it’s Oliver Stone’s 1994 classic, Natural Born Killers (in which he played tabloid reporter Wayne Gale), that seems to stand out most in Downey’s mind among his favorite filmmaking experiences.
“There’s a great thing that happens when a good director and good actors get together,” says Downey, his nervous energy suddenly finding focus. “Natural Born Killers was such a cool experience… but I went in thinking Wayne Gale was from the South. Oliver was like, ‘No, no…’ I was like, ‘Perhaps he’s an Englishman.’ Oliver said no again. I told him that sometimes the character reminded me of [former “A Current Affair” correspondent] Steve Dunleavy, and he was like, ‘Oh, he’s a [jerk]—do it like that!’ If you have someone kind of harshly saying that things are wrong in that way, things can get real synergistic. Ultimately, all he wants is for you to be as good as you can be.”
The role of Wayne Gale confirmed Downey’s place among the finest actors of his generation, but as his career was ascending to greater heights, his personal life was gradually spiraling out of control. During a traffic stop for speeding in 1996, Downey was arrested for drunk driving and possession of drugs and an unloaded pistol. He was given a suspended sentence of three years and granted probation with requirements of random drug testing and drug counseling. But what should have been a bracing wake-up call was only the beginning.
In 1997, Downey’s probation was revoked for continued drug use, and, by the end of the year, he was serving 180 days in Los Angeles County Jail for violating probation. There, he got into a fight with another inmate before being released to a drug rehab facility. At one point, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, he accidentally wandered into the home of a Malibu neighbor and fell asleep. He was eventually arrested a third time at a Palm Springs resort after an anonymous tip led police to find the actor alone with various drugs and weapons in his possession. In his sentencing, Judge Lawrence Mira stated that he was out of options and sent Downey to prison to save his life, since the actor would not take the responsibility of refraining from alcohol and drug use on his own. He was immediately fired from his role on the hit TV show “Ally McBeal,” and his latest career resurgence came to a grinding halt.
“When I was doing various stints in the pokey,” he says, “people would say to me, ‘Dude, the only difference between you and me is you got caught.’ The only difference is that I created situations in my own bottoming-out or crises, and I sought to reach out and act out in a way that was scary to the public.”
After several years of imprisonment and rehab that largely kept him out of the public eye, Downey resurfaced in 2003 with two high-profile films (the psychological thriller Gothika and noirish musical The Singing Detective) and a newfound sense of sobriety. But of equal significance was the love he had found with Gothika producer Susan Downey, whom he married in 2005. Asked if he felt, in retrospect, that this series of fortunate events had been his shot at redemption, Downey’s response is surprisingly circumspect.
“I don’t believe in redemption in a social sense,” he says, “and I don’t believe in forgiveness either. I have too much evidence to the contrary. I don’t think that the universe necessarily [cares] about the details of my personal forgiveness. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t try to make amends and be somewhat honorable, because I do believe in personal redemption.”
True to character, rather than getting all New Age-y about his personal recovery from addiction, Downey simply returned to doing what he has always done best, turning in one critically acclaimed performance after another in increasingly high-profile films that finally delivered on the promise of his early career. From stunning lead turns in smaller films such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Zodiac to scene-stealing supporting roles in bigger films like The Shaggy Dog and Good Night, and Good Luck., the now-sober Downey attacked every role with the passion of a man bound and determined to outrun the demons that previously haunted him.
“A motivational speaker once said to me, ‘The bigger the setback, the bigger the comeback,’” Downey says. “Nowadays, any time you can complete one thing and move onto the next thing, the board is washed clean. Everything’s a comeback. I think it’s become incredibly tenuous and precipitous out there. You can’t rest on your laurels.”
There hasn’t been a lot of time for resting in Downey’s schedule of late, with three films slated for release in 2008 that should put him back at the top of Hollywood’s A-list. First up is indie film festival favorite Charlie Bartlett, in which he plays a world-weary high school principal. Later this year, he’ll co-star opposite Jack Black and Ben Stiller (who also directed) in Tropic Thunder, in which the trio play actors filming a war movie who are forced to become the soldiers they’re portraying.
But the role that has everyone talking is Iron Man, a comic book adaptation that casts Downey as billionaire Tony Stark, who creates a life support suit to keep himself alive and fight crime after an accident. A screening of clips from the Jon Favreau-directed film was the hit of 2007’s Comic-Con, the sci-fi and comic book convention known for jump-starting the hype that made hits out of everything from 300 to “Heroes.” Pundits are already predicting the film will be among the year’s top box-office draws, and Downey seems excited about entering the next phase of his life and career.
“I’m 42 now, and I know what my part was in everything that happened,” he says. “Everyone calls the shots in [his or her] own life up to a certain point. I’m under the impression that it’s not necessary to suffer at all in order to grow and change. I don’t really buy into that whole Buddhist idea that life is suffering. I think at certain times in my life I’ve just had huge attitude problems, basically. But it’s changing. And if you have a better attitude, you’re happier, I guess.”
With this new-and-improved mindset and the predicted success of his upcoming films, Downey plans to stay on top for years to come.