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The 43-year-old star says that he was quite worried that his public battle with a drug addiction would cost him Iron Mans role in the upcoming superhero film of the same name.

Id never had an opportunity to do something like this that I thought could be so good and with the right people, the Sun quoted him as telling Empire Magazine.

I felt like I might not get a shot at doing it because of the wreckage of my past, even though it had been long enough, in my eyes, he added.

Downey Jr. was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1993 for his marvellous performance in Chaplin, a semi-biographical film about the life of Charles Chaplin.]]>

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Downey will be feted at a March 13 awards gala set to close the exhibition confab. ShoWest begins March 10 at the Paris and Bally’s hotels in Las Vegas.

“For almost four decades, Robert Downey Jr. has been entertaining moviegoers with a resume of films that is as diverse and impressive as anyone could imagine,” ShoWest co-managing director Mitch Neuhauser said.

“Iron Man” bows May 2 from Paramount, in cooperation with Marvel Entertainment.

Robert Downey Jr. has been entertaining moviegoers with a resume of films that is as diverse and impressive as anyone could imagine,” ShoWest co-managing director Mitch Neuhauser said.

Downey next appears in MGM’s “Charlie Bartlett,” a high school comedy unspooling Feb. 22. He also will appear in DreamWorks’ “The Soloist.”]]>