«I take some pride in…representing myself exactly how I would like to have my son remember me to his son»
«It's hard for me to watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and not get nostalgic about it. It's not perfect but in some ways, I think it's the best thing I've ever done. I don't know why»
«I take some pride in… representing myself exactly how I would like to have my son remember me to his son»
«Then after I got a record deal -- and strangely the guy who was heading it up at Sony, Peter Gelb, was not a sleazebag -- I couldn't stop it once I said, "Where's my advance money?"»
Personal life
Downey started dating actress Sarah Jessica Parker after meeting her on the set of Firstborn. The couple later separated due to his drug addiction.
He married actress/singer Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992, after a 42-day courtship, their son, Indio Falconer Downey, was born in September 1993.
The strain on their marriage from Downey's repeated trips to rehab and jail finally reached a breaking point.
In 2001, in the midst of Downey's last arrest and sentencing to an extended stay in rehab, Falconer left Downey and took their son with her. Downey and Falconer finalized their divorce on April 26, 2004.
In 2003, Downey met producer Susan Levin, an Executive Vice President of Production at Joel Silver's film company, Silver Pictures on the set of Gothika.
Downey and Susan quietly struck up a romance during production, though Susan turned down his romantic advances twice. Despite Susan's worries that the romance would not last after the completion of shooting because "he's an actor; I have a real job", the couple's relationship continued after production wrapped on Gothika.
Downey proposed to Susan on the night before her thirtieth birthday. The couple were married in August 2005, in a Jewish ceremony at Amagansett, New York.
A tattoo on one of his biceps reads "Suzie Q" in tribute to her. Their first child, a son, was born in February 2012, their second child, a daughter, was born in November 2014.
Music
The Futurist is the debut studio album by American actor Robert Downey Jr., produced by Jonathan Elias and Mark Hudson, and released on November 23, 2004 through Sony Classical. The album debuted at number 121 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 16,000 copies in its first week.
The album received mixed reviews, but Downey stated in 2006 that he probably will not do another album, as he felt that the energy he put into doing the album was not compensated. He explained that he did not want to spend whatever time he had at home in the studio, but rather with his family. "Broken" plays during the end credits to Downey's 2005 film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Every breath you take
Man like me
There are a few creases around his eyes and he's thinner than you might expect, despite the whale of a lunch - gazpacho, chicken breast, protein wrap, egg-white omelet, sweet potatoes and a giant Lindt chocolate bar - he is devouring between several cigarettes and gulps of herb tea. "Chinese herbs," he says, typically self-mocking as he fires up another cigarette, "which I'm taking as I pound down the Camel unfiltereds." Otherwise, Robert Downey Jr. appears no worse for wear.
And there's been a lot of wear, even by his liberal standards. For much of the last eight years, he has had a reputation as one of the most gifted but troubled actors of his generation, publicly battling substance abuse while serving jail and prison time for drug and weapons charges.
Now, four years after his parole, two subsequent arrests and a year in a court-ordered drug treatment facility, Mr. Downey, 39, has become a singer, songwriter and pianist. This week, Sony Classical releases his first album, "The Futurist," consisting of eight of his own pop ballads as well as two cover songs, "Smile," a Charlie Chaplin composition, and "Your Move" by Yes.
At a Santa Monica recording studio, Mr. Downey talked about making the transition from actor for hire to singer-songwriter. Surrounded by photographs of his son, Indio, 11 (from his 12-year marriage to Deborah Falconer), and fiancée, the "Gothika" producer Susan Levin, he discussed his music, his film career - releases next year include "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang," an action comedy with Val Kilmer, and "A Scanner Darkly," a futuristic drama from Richard Linklater - and his life now.
HILARY DE VRIES: You've cut a few singles before, but now with this album you seem to be joining actors like Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan and William Shatner, who think they have crossover appeal as recording artists. Why put out an album?
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Yeah, there is this thing about people wanting to continually demonstrate their prowess in many areas and it's kind of a gross-out. Clearly, I have some hesitation in being an actor who puts out an album. But after years of writing songs, it gradually became more real. Then after I got a record deal -- and strangely the guy who was heading it up at Sony, Peter Gelb, was not a sleazebag -- I couldn't stop it once I said, "Where's my advance money?"
HILARY DE VRIES: How did you learn piano? Did your parents make you take lessons as a kid?
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: No, they sent me into a living room that had a piano in it, and I thought I should occupy myself more wisely than sitting on the circa-1970 couch and staring out the window.
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