Robert Downey Jr. has been somewhat like a phoenix rising from his ashes.
From his notoriously scandalous roller coasters associated with his drug addiction to his life
as one of the most legendary and successful actors on the planet. We all know the actor
hates talking about those times, and he literally loses his cool when asked about
them during interviews. Here is one of the examples to prove the point.
But we will also HAVE to talk about those bad old days, because it is exactly the time when
the actor met and married Deborah Falconer. Let us go back to the early 90s, when the
two met for the first time. Even though Deborah seems to have been at the top of her popularity
while being with Downey, it is unfair to say she had been a no-name before their meeting.
Interested in Hollywood from a very young age, Deborah wanted to make it as a model before she
tried her luck as a singer and an actress. It was all before Robert Downey Jr. On the other hand,
Robert by the time of their meeting established a reputation as a critically acclaimed A-List actor.
Just like that, in 1992 the two started dating, when his career was on the rise.
It was the same year that brought him an Academy Award nomination for his performance in Chaplin.
After a whirlwind romance that lasted for six weeks, the lovebirds got married and welcomed
their son Indio the very next year. But 3 years later, the couple separated. In the
summer of 1996 within the span of just a few weeks the actor was arrested multiple times.
During one of such incidents, when stopped by the police for speeding, Downey was not only
intoxicated, but he also had heroin and cocaine on him. Soon after, he was picked up by police
again when he wandered into a neighbor’s home and passed out in their son’s bedroom.
It is not exactly clear what was happening with his OWN son during that period, but it
looks like it was Deborah's decision to break up with Robert. The Golden Globe winning actor will
later be arrested (yes, again!) for violating his probation and eventually spend a year in prison.
Several years after his release, he will be doing stints in rehab. However, officially all this time
Robert Downey Jr. and Deborah Falconer will be married and won't announce their split until 2004.
Robert gradually made his way back to the big screen and rose even higher. But the sad thing,
which is probably one of the reasons it was so painful for him to talk about his past,
was his son's drug addiction. Guess you won't be surprised that some
blame Robert for that and oftentimes ask him to comment on the situation.
Indio was arrested in 2014 for drug possession and agreed to go to a drug rehab program for
18 months. He had his father's support the whole way through.
The star actor said during his son's arrest:
"Unfortunately, there’s a genetic component to addiction, and Indio has likely inherited it.
Also, there is a lot of family support and understanding,
and we’re all determined to rally behind him and help him become the man he’s capable of being".
Thankfully, as of now Indio seems to have kept his sobriety like his father throughout
all these years. And we hope this willpower is also something he inherited from his dad.
No matter what was happening behind the closed doors and in public,
Deborah never talked about their time together with Robert, either good or bad days. Even though
Falconer could clearly use some information to promote herself or even write a book,
she never dropped a single comment about her ex-husband.
While we don't know if the two have remained friends, we know for sure that Robert is close
to Indio and was not officially restricted from contacting his son even at his worst.
Deborah prefers to live a low-key life and enjoy her privacy.
We hardly know anything about her status now,
but rumor goes that she continues performing and doing music and that she hasn't remarried.
The same cannot be said about Robert Downey. The actor first met his future wife, the film
producer Susan Levin, on the set of Gothika in 2003. But back then you wouldn't have guessed it
could lead to something serious. While Robert was immediately smitten with Susan, she just thought
he was a brilliant actor, and that's it. Oh wait, she also thought he was, quote, "strange".
It took Robert 3 times to ask her out. And the third one was luckily
successful. When they started dating, Susan didn't fully realize the extent
of Robert Downey Jr.'s notorious struggle with drug addiction.
He was sober at the time, but later relapsed. Following which, Levin posed an ultimatum:
"And I said immediately, 'This isn't gonna work.' I made it clear that to stay with me,
nothing could happen."
And it worked. In July 2003, the actor symbolically threw his drugs into the ocean,
and thus his long-term journey of sobriety started.
The Marvel star often credits his wife for helping him to finally get rid of the addiction.
"I guess the only way to explain it is that I've become more like her.
I'm still trying to figure out what happened."
Two years later, the two were already married and are now considered one of the strongest
power couples in Hollywood. Susan gets along with Robert's son from the first marriage pretty well.
She said in one of the interviews:
"With stepkids, it's hard at first. But, like anything, my approach was to just be
honest about it and not try and force anything — not act like we were a big
family right away. What's come from that is a really great relationship with Indio,
because I didn't try to make it into something it wasn't...until one day, it was".
They are also blessed with 2 children of their own,
and Downey definitely enjoys fatherhood more than anything in the world.
The celebrity couple has not been involved in any scandal whatsoever
within the time they have been together. Not that tabloids didn't try reporting about the
alleged problems in their marriage… But those rumors have never been confirmed.
The only time the media managed to suck something seemingly close to scandalous
out of this relationship was when Robert called his co-star Gwyneth Paltrow his,
quote, "free pass". But there is a catch: his wife approves.
Let us remind you that Paltrow played love interest Pepper
Potts in the first three Iron Man movies. Commenting on his attempt
to bring his good old friend back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Downey said:
“My free pass is – because her and Susan are such good friends – is Paltrow. I
gotta get her back in these movies, so I can make out with her onscreen again.”
When asked if his wife would be jealous, Robert replied she couldn't care less.
Meanwhile, in 2021 Gwyneth confessed that kissing her Iron Man co-star was the worst
because it felt like kissing her brother. Yep, just like that - something thousands
of women and men dream about when they see Robert on screen, was creepy for Paltrow.
So, whenever you hear something is wrong about Robert Downey Jr and his love life,
you'd better immediately doubt it. Luckily, the whole story of the actor's life is an
example of hope and inspiration, showing that no matter how hard things get - there
is always a way to get back on your feet. And sometimes true love can help you with that.
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