After 20 years of drink, drugs, ‘unthinkably surreal’ debauchery and spells in prison and rehab, Robert Downey Jr seems finally to have conquered his addictions. With Hollywood’s confidence in him restored, he is now carrying the $186 million blockbuster, Iron Man. On the eve of its release, he talks to Murphy Williams.

At long last, Hollywood’s most captivating hellraiser and ex-convict - Robert Downey Jr - is ‘on a run where I can do no wrong’. He has several wildly differing films on the go, of which the first, Iron Man, is a $186 million, surefire blockbuster that will doubtlessly see Downey, playing Marvel Comics’ wealthiest and ­wittiest superhero, reproduced as a mass-market plastic doll. Another hot ticket is The Soloist, a less rock’n'roll adaptation from Joe Wright, the director of Atonement, in which he will appear alongside Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx.

Seven years after his release from Corcoran State Penitentiary, Downey is once again a going concern. When Steven Spielberg visited Wright’s set recently, Downey was taken aback, despite the 60 or so films he has made: ‘I couldn’t believe it. He’s over by the monitors, and I’m like “Jesus Christ, there he is” and he talks to me about a couple of things, and then he leaves the set and I’m like “God darn it!” I’ve only been waiting 25 years to have one of those moments.’

‘It’s all so new to me,’ Downey, 43, says with the sparkle of someone half his age. ‘I walk by studio heads and they actually look and put their hand out now, like maybe I should be on their radar. I used to be so pissed off, like, “I just did a movie for that guy and he walked past me”, not because of my behaviour but because I was never in anything that was of any particular consequence to their day-to-day business, whereas now they’re like I’m one of their heavy hitters.’ (more…)

Robert was at the Berlin premiere of Iron Man yesterday. A few picturs are in the gallery.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. has accused other Hollywood stars of being too consumed by their own celebrity - calling his superficially-minded peers “zombies”.
Downey Jr. claims too many of the current crop of screen stars are more interested in being famous than making great movies.
He tells GQ magazine, “For some people, fame and success is what finishes their thing, because in some twisted way that’s all they ever wanted. I know people like that.
“They’re like zombies. But they’re complete zombies. They’re done, they’re cool, in a very two-dimensional way. They can move anywhere inside the frame and they’re well-lit, and it’s fine.”

Robert was at the Berlin Iron Man photocall. Pictures are in the gallery.

Robert Downey Junior is a man who used to get into a lot of trouble.

A truly gifted actor, the Oscar-nominated star is just as famous for mug shots and court appearances, after a descent into drug abuse that almost killed him.

But Hollywood always stood by the 43-year-old actor and a new film is generating plenty of attention.
Robert Downey Junior spoke to Campbell Live about his new film Ironman and his past problems with the law.

You can see the video HERE

Robert Downey Jr. has been in the Hollywood fast lane since he was 8 when he started doing drugs with his filmmaker dad, the reformed bad boy tells Parade maggie in it’s upcoming issue.

And he insists it was this pattern of “mercurial and reckless undisciplined” behavior that’s to blame for his 1991 split with longtime lady love Sarah Jessica Parker.

“I was so selfish” Downey, 43, says. “I liked to drink, and I had a drug problem, and that didn’t jibe with Sarah Jessica, because it is the furthest thing from what she is.”

He explains he thought his “post-adolescent, faux nihilistic, punk-rock rebellious attitude,” made him “cooler” than those around him who were leading successful, productive lives.

The future “Sex and the City” siren “provided me a home and understanding,” despite his constant drinking and drugging.

“Sarah Jessica would pull me out of a hangover, and we’d go pick out furniture together,” he laughs. “She is a force of nature!” (more…)