Robert Downey Jr.: A Journey from Turmoil to Triumph

"I would like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order," Robert Downey Jr began his acceptance speech as he received the award for Best Supporting Actor at the 96th Academy Awards for his role in "Oppenheimer". It's the first statue for the American actor who has already been nominated twice. "I thank my wife," the actor added, "She found me like an abandoned puppy and as a good veterinarian, she brought me back to life. My secret? I needed this job more than it needed me." The reference is to the introductory speech of the 2024 Oscars host, Jimmy Kimmel, who had unpleasantly referred to his past of addictions. What Jimmy Kimmel said Host Jimmy Kimmel targeted him in the opening speech at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. "This is the pinnacle of Robert Downey Jr's long and illustrious career," Kimmel said, "Well, one of the high points." The 58-year-old actor from the Marvel Cinematic Universe has indeed been arrested several times during the 90s on drug charges. Downey Jr. did not laugh at all, but the host continued to tease him. "Do you have an acceptance speech in your pocket or do you just have a very rectangular penis?" he joked. The Turbulent Life Robert Downey Jr. is a survivor of himself, a true Hollywood rockstar who, before becoming one of the highest-paid and most famous actors ever thanks to his portrayal of the character Tony Stark in Iron Man, The Avengers, and various films of the Marvel universe, fought against addictions and legal problems that could have ended his career when it had just begun. The Debut at 5 Son of director Robert Downey Sr., he made his film debut at just five years old in 1970 acting in Pound and in various teen movies in the '80s, until the leading role in the 1992 biopic Chaplin where he plays the great Charlie Chaplin, also receiving an Oscar nomination (he does not win because he is up against an extraordinary Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman). Drugs and Jail In 1996, when he was stopped by the police on Sunset Boulevard, everything seems to collapse: Robert Downey Jr. was found in possession of drugs and a gun, a month later while out on bail he was found sleeping on the couch of a neighbor's house where he had sneaked in, in 1997 he fails to show up for one of the mandatory drug tests imposed by the Los Angeles court and in 1999 after other bail violations he was sentenced to three years in prison at Corcoran, California, just as his latest film, Black and White, was about to be released. Life in Prison He remains in prison for a year, until a judge decides his conduct allows him to be released. During his time in prison, Robert Downey Jr. gives a famous interview with Vanity Fair in which he talks about his life behind bars: sleeps in the most uncomfortable bed in the cell, often works in the kitchen (where he admits to not knowing how to do anything), after a period of isolation becomes friends with many inmates, joins the prison choir and improves to the point of remembering his sister Allyson's birthday, something he had never done before. His addiction problems do not end with his release from Corcoran (in 2001 he is stopped while wandering barefoot in a confused state through Culver City) but after acting in the sitcom Ally McBeal, Robert Downey Jr.'s career takes off again thanks also to the help of friends. Friends Who Helped Him Mel Gibson pays for his necessary insurance to act in Hollywood (no company wanted to insure him anymore), Ben Stiller wants him in his comedy Tropic Thunder, and finally in 2008, director Jon Favreau chooses him for Iron Man: "He understood how to take the character to another level," he tells the press, "He found many of his life experiences in Tony Stark." A choice that creates one of the most iconic action movie characters of recent years: Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark in two more Iron Man films and in five other Marvel universe films until 2019. He has been sober since 2003, and in 2015 the Governor of California granted him a full pardon. Today Robert Downey Jr is among the highest-paid actors in the world, $75 million in a single year between 2012 and 2013 thanks to the Iron Man saga and the decision to cut ties with his turbulent past.