The Redemption of Robert Downey, Jr.

I am Iron Man I held the false notion that I could operate on two tracks and run them both at the same time and neither would suffer walkway thank you we need a walkway to get to watch out this a This Grass thing excuse me can we get to court we have pretty much exhausted I think the rehabilitative measures that we can make here I believe you can do pretty much anything want to do uh but it isn't going to be my decision let alone I'm not on either track I'm just a kid who had a predisposition to self-destruction come on now Iron Man hey what's [Music] up this video is brought to you by the published press on a serious note there you know the last couple years has been you know interesting time for you very interesting in the early 2000s Robert Downey Jr was not the man you know today you're one of these guys I hear these sort of urban legends about how are people when they meet you these days do you find that people are not quite sure how to approach you and I heard that like when you do movies you essentially almost have to work for free because the insurance bond is so high in fact he was so unreliable he couldn't find work so if you want to work with me handle the insurance first I think they're just a little worried that I might you know put a shiv in them or something it's kind of like they take a bunch of the dough up front he just took 40 cents on the dollar and then when I finish the movie and I haven't you know snorted half of Bolivia or ruin them or then gave it back to me when I didn't you know ruin his movie they go oh well thank you it's not that we don't trust you here's your money back kind like that but this is all because Robert had grown a reputation of being a little thank you robt wild and what's next I'm trying to stay in the moment that's my biggest problem right now um I don't know probably dinner after after this and the party I'm trying to live in the moment and doing a damn good job of [Music] it I've read that some of the actors in the film were concerned that you were playing the part too realistically I think Julian's in a lot of trouble yeah there was some concern because we'd like you know finish doing the party club scene he disappears nobody knows where and then he comes back like nothing ever happened and and he's wasted all the time and they'd be like all right that's a wrap time to go home and I'd be like no now it's time to do the party scene for real even by Hollywood standards your rise to stardom has been pretty quick you were in the SNL cast and you were 20 years old when you started on the show I know why whales Beach themselves and did you enjoy that experience up there Spiderman told me wow God it's a video camera how do you guys know well it's like I think doing live television is probably is probably the most nerve ring thing you can do you out well that was 1985 and I have no recollection of that year I'm not lying I pumped gas I have a job how did you get the job get the park try out what did you do it was slight nepotism he like well get Downey in here your dad has a reputation for being you know a very eclectic artist a very you know odd director how dare you say that a man could marry his mother and sleep with her my dad's a real film ficado and a a great Pioneer in his own right I said go see the movie and you can't take this seriously no if you do you're a nitwit you were in the Arts every day kind of what was the uh the first film you were in was this one of your dad's projects oh yeah the first film I was in my father got a grant to do this movie called pound which is about dogs and a pound have any hair on your ball Robert's introduction to performing was thanks to his father but this was not the only new and exciting thing his dad showed him but I think everyone's dad they're this kind of like stoic Mountain that we can't climb I grew up in a family that was doing drugs and trying to be creative does that describe your family life in a nutshell for sure didn't your father introduced you to drugs yeah I was probably 8 9 10 as I recall I was like swinging in a hammock in East hatam Connecticut and when a dad was lecturing at Colgate University and there was some guy in the room and he had a joint and I just like put my hand out and he came over and put it in my hand and it was [Music] on it was the missing ingredient for a while 2003 emerging from the darkest period in his life Robert had to find his feet again so what is what is your life like right now pardon is it a I mean for you dealing with all that is it a struggle dayto day for you I mean the sobriety thing is it hard is it easy I mean you get into it it's a day by day it's uh you know what it is it's it's mandatory I can't change it it's in the past and I just focus on doing what I'm doing now you know and what I love to do which is making movies he was Keen to get back in society's good books but that wouldn't be so easy you know I'm a little more difficult than some other actors no movie studio would hire The Talented but tortured actor the truth is yeah yall know my path to the studios Downey's late Antics meant he was a risk not worth taking but eager to perform he just had to gain someone's trust I think basically it's about having uh support and some people who hold you accountable tell us about your friendship with Mel Gibson really he's a very good employee he makes an excellent house boy let's PL this movie that's what we have to do air America is the title Jan watch your controls you're and Mill Gibson is Jean in this film he's my big brother he's a real friend did you guys get along all right yeah he's really great he's really great having formed a tight friendship a decade prior Mel Gibson decided to take a chance on rubbert and I couldn't get hired so he cast me in the lead of a movie that was actually developed for him the singing and he kept a roof over my head and he kept food on the table Robert dowy J's performance is remarkable the singing detective was the first step Downey needed and it led to gotha which is when everything started changing you've had good things come out of projects before you got something I would say even better at this particular project you met a woman that you're now engaged to his fiance is film producer Susan LaVine who stole his heart during the filming of gotha so you look happy you got a girlfriend you've got a fiance I got a fiance yeah Susan LaVine soon to be Downey oh yeah yeah how's that going it's great we have a picture of you and your girlfriend Susan hi honey there you go that's Susan and you oh you've gotone all kind of gooey we were just screwing two hours ago were you leery though of his of his of his past when you first started dating I mean really well you have given your wife Susan credit for making you the man that you are today he's lived a lot of life but the amazing thing to me is that he's actually incredibly grounded incredibly normal what is it about her that has made you who you are falling in love helps a lot just something to live for yeah and such a nice guy he makes me laugh like no one no one can when Susan came into Robert's life he now had something he really couldn't lose he really credits her for his sobriety I think eventually you you you fall into somebody who's kind of like well I see that you are a tall order and and uh let's make it work she sort of gave him this ultimatum that if he didn't Shape Up she'd be out of there uh Susan said uh yeah don't do it anymore or I'm I'm splitting otherwise sayara it was this fear of disappointing that sharpened Robert's Focus but it was this same feeling that pushed him to the brink a decade earlier hi I'm Robert Downey Jr and I have a pretty good idea of who Charlie Chaplan was well i' better since I had the amazing good fortune and petrifying responsibility of portraying him in chap the first film ever made about his life you have been quoted as saying that chaplain changed your life I would say that this that this film how could this film not change your life the classing of chap is very difficult because firstly you have to have somebody who can go from the age of 17 right through up to the age of 8 three you had to have an absolute Mata Idol there are a lot of fences to jump there's an even higher fence that of course is chaplain's genius you had to have somebody who the moment they came on the screen absolutely Bewitched you you had to believe that women fell over for him like nine pins you have to believe that this man was a genius there was just no question whatsoever that the that the actor who combined all those elements was Robert as you've already said Mr Hoover Motion Pictures it for the people he's worked so hard and he's done it he's achieved it he has the essence of chaplain most of the people work for a living and they don't make much money doing it but he actually became chap gives him pleasure to see offish with them and the upper classes give me a kick up the backside it's not that he looks like him he has but he's he moves like him he has the grace he has the romance and if that can change things so much the better everything that he does even if he improvised his improvisation didn't go back to Robert Downey Jr it was chaplain Mr chaplain I can't believe it's you [Music] for [Music] real it's too [Music] much publish [Music] press [Music] I get it you pioneered generations of creators and this is how to keep up all learning is valuable pass it [Music] on to access the script and research document for this video subscribe to the publish press a three times a week newsletter about the business of creators link is in the description felt like um like my life all of a sudden had this new purpose just being able to play him is the closest I've ever felt to being like somebody with a capital S you know you know it was just the ultimate ultimate education after that picture there was a tremendous Buzz about you in the community and about what pictures you were going to do next what really sucks is when when you live the lesson did did that picture overwhelm you so that all a sudden it drove you into something else and then you blindly go and disregard all that data Downey's Oscar nominated performance as Charlie Chaplain should have put him on the right track smooth rode ahead well if I was the the head of a studio I would necessarily have thought that I should have been the the person to to put the responsibility of this film on but Downey had his eyes on a pleasure a little more immediate with chaplain Robert Downey Jr proved he had the confidence drive and talent to conquer Hollywood he just didn't have the self-discipline felt like somehow that addiction that chaplain had was tapped into something inside you just so I know personally in chaplain were you generally like together during chaplain yeah and there's nothing better than shooting scenes in ve Switzerland in old age C thesis while you were booming on mushrooms still from the night before Oh scar it is a SC youve said home for the holidays is for me one of the most relaxed performances in the history of Cinema rooting around up inside of obviously this guy's not a big wiper he smells light what was relaxing you black to heroin little a little ladder get a little fulum on that come flying out of there in the p and the blood and the poop what flying out of his nose I mean it's it's Amity buil you were high on the set that was yeah that was the first time I'm not trying to undermine what is essentially I guess an illness but it kind of sounds like fun in some aspect oh right up until the cop showed up it was a [Music] blast by the mid90s Downey was on a downward spiral two words huh convicted felon 199 96 the actor violated his probation when he fled from a detox center his rehab stemming from several drug and weapons arrests but a judge sent him back a year later he skipped a court ordered drug test and spent the next four months in the LA County Jail well Robert's been in a residential program um for the last 120 days for past several years he's just going through the revolving door of rehab program and being arrested so judge sounded very very wary of that his future which is too sad such a bright person and he's not a criminal they rid a candle they said he didn't know whether or not you be able to maintain Sur in that business that's a call you have to make he's a victim of the drugs 1999 Downey skipped another drug test a judge gave Downey hard time state prison for nearly one year he literally threw the book at me and went for the maximum sentencing allowed which was a 3year sentence what is it like to be in prison the first day I was I was kind of scared yeah it's an unimaginably awful situation and so by the time you're in prison that's not rock bottom for you nope I just happened to be in a situation the very last time and I said you know what I don't think I can continue doing this Stark makes you feel he's a cool ex with a heartest 2006 Marvel announced the production of the first ever liveaction Iron Man movie the only question was who do they cost I remember sitting down with the guy I had just been hired to cast the first Iron Man tell me all the qualities that you think are most important and I was like geez he just got it in he's got that spark in him fast quick witted and funny and dynamic and a bit troubled and confident and Brilliant and we really kept coming back to D me he's ready everybody thinks you're brilliantly talented and you've had a lot of support I said to to John Fabro I said I think I'm the guy for the job and he goes you know I do and they don't and that's when we were in your office and we were pointing to his head shot and saying we got to try to figure this out at some point that can run out you have a fear that that Goodwill has a bottom Robert Johnny Jr at that point in his career wasn't necessarily a familyfriendly name but at the time it was whoa risky casting Robert dowy J yeah of course it runs out it's like anything you know because you're you're acting like a child and sooner or later you're going to get grounded casting Downey as Tony Stark seemed like a no-brainer but let's rewind the clock once more I was a therapist uh-huh it says Attorney in law right on the D in 2001 Robert won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his portrayal of Larry Paul and Ally mcbi Robert Downey Jr Ali most Monday evenings on Fox have shown him to be the most gifted actor of his generation as lawyers we tend to embrace settlements as a good thing we settle we celebrate Mr Downey's astonishing work on Ali mcfield may be as good as anything anyone has done on a television series we know what we sacrifice in order to give ourselves to this art form he said when he was writing it that it was like having a new toy to write for me and I will do my best to not get sent back to the [Applause] factory well maybe we'll uh meet in court one day how did your Ali mcdeal career end poorly if I remember correctly robertt had to tell himself this time would be different the Journey of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe started with the Journey of Tony Stark they made you really go through the Hoops for this how many times did you audition if I'm not on my side for this going my way why should anybody else be I said to to John Fabro I said I think I'm the guy for the job and he goes I don't think it's going to happen and I said well I'm going to believe it will because he wasn't instantly a slam dunk approval I suggested we have screen tests and then it came down to a screen test and I went in and I'm really good at screen [Applause] testing maybe next time you scramble f-22s against me I just might not play defense I just went completely bats on it I don't want to call an out of body experience but it was one of those rushes weapons that I built are being used to kill innocent people can't let that happen that I'm sure like somebody would feel if they're about to play a big sporting Arena I'm going to get back to work see yourself out you remember the door right I was just thinking this is me and I am in this situation like I just studied the text and thought of everything I could do better than anyone else for that one instant I had to psych myself into that nobody else on Earth had a chance it's ghastly the conditions there's not a woman inide I'm a woman yes clearly it's that thing when you when you only have to focus on one thing for 3 weeks wow you really have all of this down you ever lose an hour of sleep your whole life I was too prepared I was too confident you're never going to get me in the sack with that attitude [Music] [Laughter] crud the truth was we got to a point that we realized if we didn't cast him that would have been the biggest risk the rest is history I am Iron Man [Music] Alro and Robert Downey Jr it wasn't really until we cast [Music] Robert that I fully understood what the take was I think that's probably one of the greatest decisions in the history of of Hollywood when Iron Man first lifted off in 2008 made a whopping 585 million worldwide he's in the number one movie in America right now uh slight correction it's not the number one movie in America it's the number one movie worldwide that success launched Robert Downey junor into the rarified air of Hollywood a-listers but in a career Often overshadowed by his troubled personal life how has Downey defied impossible odds to Stage the biggest comeback in Hollywood history you can draw all the parallels you want you can call it Destiny I'm just not the the hero type what profession other than your own would you like to attempt inventor with this uh laundry list of Character defects all the mistakes I made largely public East coaster a dad of some renowned thank you what's your food weakness cheeseburgers I'm an American cheeseburger maybe you were born to be Iron Man I think that actors do the films they're meant to do Loosely pre-arranged Destiny and what's incredible is how far a field you can go from it and still find your way back if it's all for nothing then it's a it's a tragedy we have pretty much exhausted I think the rehabilitative measures that we can make here dig myself an early grave in this I better calm H that cuz it's too easy to jump on that wagon if it's a disease or my my brain's been hijacked it's not that difficult to overcome these seemingly ghastly uh problems past a certain [Music] point you have to stand up inside yourself and and change I believe you can do pretty much anything you want to do uh but it isn't going to be my decision you are saying that it's not that difficult no what's hard is to decide

Channel: Dodford

Views: 452,720

Keywords: dodford, editing, filmmaking, visual effects, corridor crew, cinema, colin and samir, johnny harris, documentary, robert downey jr, robert downey jr oppenheimer, robert downey jr interview, how rdj became iron man, robert downey jr marvel, robert downey jr chaplin, robert downey jr prison story, robert downey jr documentary, the publish press, charlie chaplin footage, robert downey jr SNL, robert downey jr young

Id: ovt9mV69pVg

Length: 22min 45sec (1365 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 25 2023