Robert Downey Jr. Reveals Humiliation Coming Out After Drug Addiction
Speaking of his drug addiction and the jail time that came with it, Robert Downey Jr. recently told New York Times magazine, “I remember with great pride that I was able to even address something like that in a public forum,” adding the caveat, “Yet it would irk me deeply. It felt strangely punitive and unnecessarily humiliating.”
Robert Downey Jr. says talking publicly about his drug addiction and imprisonment was horribly humiliating.
Robert Downey Jr has perhaps one of the greatest comebacks in Hollywood history after struggling with drug addiction and being jailed for missing a court-ordered drug test in the 90s. He would, of course, go on to get clean and become one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood by joining the MCU as Iron Man, but it doesn’t mean he always enjoyed the road he had to take to get there.
It makes sense that Robert Downey Jr. didn’t enjoy the process of having to prove himself in public, as it wasn’t really anyone’s business except his and the studios that were doing business with him. Unfortunately, celebrity culture and paparazzi mean that a lot of an actor’s personal life may be put on display, and news outlets end up asking questions about those events in someone’s life that they might prefer to leave behind.
Regardless, it’s undeniable that Downey is in a great place now, as he finished out his long MCU career in spectacular fashion in 2019, and now he has a starring role in Christopher Nolan‘s next big feature.
Oppenheimer is the first feature film we’re seeing from Robert Downey Jr since 2020’s Doolittle, so it will be great to finally see him in a big role again. Downey will be playing Lewis Strauss, who served two terms on the US Atomic Energy Commission.
“I remember with great pride that I was able to even address something like that in a public forum. Yet it would irk me deeply. It felt strangely punitive and unnecessarily humiliating.”
-Robert Downey Jr.
Starring in the titular role will be Cillian Murphy, which will be his first lead role in a Christopher Nolan film after playing many supporting roles for him in the past.
Oppenheimer will follow J Robert Oppenheimer during the events of the creation of the atomic bomb and is set to hit theaters this coming weekend. Along with Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr, the film stars Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Rami Malek, David Dastmalchian, Kenneth Branagh, Casey Affleck, and Josh Hartnett.
Christopher Nolan directed and wrote the film based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
Oppenheimer is no doubt going to be a massive hit, especially if people are hitting up that Barbie double feature, but Robert Downey Jr also has quite a few more exciting projects on the way. Not the least of which is the long-awaited Sherlock Holmes threequel, which Susan Downey – Team Downey producer and RDJ’s wife — recently said is still a priority for the couple’s production company and for Robert himself.
It makes sense that Robert Downey Jr. didn’t enjoy the process of having to prove himself in public, as it wasn’t really anyone’s business except his and the studios that were doing business with him.
While there’s no word on a release date for that, Downey also has an HBO series and several other films planned for the near future.
Among Robert Downey Jr’s upcoming projects are a film with Shane Black titled Play Dirty, a film from Adam McKay titled Average Height, Average Build, and the HBO series The Sympathizer. Hopefully, we’ll get updates on some of these projects sooner than later, but we’ll keep you updated regardless.
