Robert Downey Jr. once gave a blunt two-word assessment of what he’d be doing if he wasn’t a Hollywood superstar.
You can probably already tell that this story relates to RDJ’s days before he was a Marvel superstar, when he struggled with addiction and almost fell into a life of crime.
Robert Downey Jr. has a checkered past
Before he was the star of the Avengers series as Iron Man, starring in critically acclaimed films like Oppenheimer, or even in his controversial role in Tropic Thunder, RDJ was quite a tearaway.
He struggled with substance misuse in the past and was even arrested on a number of occasions in relation to that.
It isn’t a secret that Downey Jr. was involved in drugs during the 1990s and 2000s, and he’s completed several treatment programs to get clean, which he thankfully now is.
In fact, he’s even at the stage where he has spoken openly about it.
The brutal two-word assessment of what his life could be came during a roundtable interview for The Hollywood Reporter in which he sat with Mark Ruffalo, Andrew Scott, and Colman Domingo.
The discussion turned to what their careers could have been, and while the others might have managed to hold down normal jobs, RDJ said something different.
He simply said he’d be doing ‘hard time’.
Of course, everyone laughed, but it’s not exactly a joke.
Domingo asked him: "I want to know what crimes you would have committed though."
RDJ responded: "A trumped up felony - possession again.”
Credit: Al Seib/A.M.P.A.S./Getty
RDJ has been behind bars, so he knows what he’s talking about
The 60-year-old spent a year or so in prison back in 1999 after he was arrested for possession of heroin, cocaine, and an unloaded Magnum firearm.
He was given three years, but ended up doing 15 months.
Still, that would be enough for most people to realize they don’t want to go back.
Downey Jr. has admitted that time was the ‘worst thing that happened to me’.
He said it was like ‘being sent to a distant planet where there is no way home until the planets align’.
He explained: "You could just feel the evil in the air, and that was no trouble at all because it was kind of like just being in a really bad neighborhood,
"There was no opportunity there. There was only threats."
In the end, this story has a happy ending, and Downey Jr. thanks his wife Susan for her support during some seriously dark times.
In a joke during his acceptance speech for his Oppenheimer Oscar - Best Supporting Actor - he said: "I'd like to thank my veterinarian - I meant wife - Susan Downey over there. She found me, a snarling rescue pet, and loved me back to life. That's why I am here. Thank you."
If you or someone you know is battling addiction, please reach out for help and contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (1-800-662-4357) or go to https://findtreatment.gov/