65 Fun Facts About Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. was born in which New York City borough?

Manhattan: his father, underground filmmaker Robert Downey Sr., was born Robert Elias and took his stepfather's surname, Downey, so that he could join the Army early.

At age five, Robert Downey Jr. made his acting debut in which film directed by his father?

Pound (1970), Robert Downey Sr.'s absurdist comedy, has human actors play dogs waiting in a pound to be adopted or put down, which is why the five-year-old's first role was a puppy.

Robert Downey Jr.'s first credited adult role came in which 1983 film named after a 1960s pop hit?

Baby It's You, John Sayles's high-school romance, credited him as Stewart, but most of his scenes were cut from the finished film.

Robert Downey Jr. played Ian, one of two high-school bullies, in which 1985 John Hughes film?

Weird Science cast him as Ian, who torments the two nerdy heroes; one of them, Anthony Michael Hall, became a close friend and later godfather to Downey's eldest son.

Which sketch show hired Robert Downey Jr. in 1985, then dismissed most of its new cast after one season?

Saturday Night Live hired young film names instead of club comics when Lorne Michaels returned in 1985; the cast never clicked, the show came close to cancellation, and most of them were let go.

Robert Downey Jr.'s first leading role came opposite Molly Ringwald in which 1987 film?

The Pick-up Artist was written by James Toback for Warren Beatty, who chose to produce it rather than play the womanizer, so the lead went to the much younger Downey.

Roger Ebert called Robert Downey Jr.'s performance in which film 'so real, so subtle and so observant'?

Less Than Zero cast him as Julian, a rich kid undone by cocaine; Downey later said the character was an exaggeration of himself until he became an exaggeration of the character.

Robert Downey Jr.'s first Academy Award nomination came for portraying which real-life figure?

Charlie Chaplin: Richard Attenborough's biopic flopped at the box office, yet Downey's performance still won him the BAFTA for Best Actor.

In Natural Born Killers (1994), Robert Downey Jr. played a sensationalist TV reporter with what name?

Wayne Gale hosts the tabloid show American Maniacs, which turns the two killers into celebrities; his live prison interview with one of them sets off a riot.

Which 1989 comedy paired Robert Downey Jr. with Cybill Shepherd and Ryan O'Neal?

Chances Are casts him as the reincarnation of Shepherd's late husband, who starts dating the couple's grown daughter before his old memories come back.

Robert Downey Jr.'s 1996 incident of falling asleep on a neighbor's child's bed became known as what?

The 'Goldilocks' incident: he walked into a neighbor's home through an unlocked door and passed out in a child's bed, and the family chose not to press charges.

A week after his unexpected release from prison in 2000, Robert Downey Jr. joined the cast of which TV series?

Ally McBeal cast him as lawyer Larry Paul, Ally's new love interest; the role won him a Golden Globe, but he was written out after his arrest in April 2001.

Robert Downey Jr. was let out of jail on furlough in 1998 to work on which Tommy Lee Jones thriller?

U.S. Marshals cast him as a State Department agent on a manhunt; he was furloughed from county jail in January 1998 to work on it, then went back behind bars.

Robert Downey Jr.'s first acting job after rehab, in August 2001, was a music video for which musician?

Elton John's 'I Want Love' video follows Downey through an empty mansion as he lip-syncs the song; the director shot 16 takes and used the last, when he looked most relaxed.

Which star personally paid Robert Downey Jr.'s insurance bond so he could be cast in The Singing Detective (2003)?

Mel Gibson, his co-star in Air America, was producing The Singing Detective and put up the bond himself after Downey's arrests had left him all but impossible to insure.

In Wonder Boys (2000), Robert Downey Jr. plays the editor of a blocked novelist played by which actor?

Michael Douglas plays the professor who cannot finish his book; Downey stayed sober through the shoot, then relapsed and was in state prison by the time the film reached cinemas.

Robert Downey Jr. met his wife Susan, a producer, on the set of which 2003 thriller?

Gothika is where he met Susan Levin, one of its producers; he was still such a risk that 40 percent of his salary was held back until filming was finished.

Which actor took Robert Downey Jr.'s car keys and got him to an Arizona rehab clinic?

Sean Penn took him to a clinic in Tucson, but Downey soon checked himself out, and in June 1996 police stopped his car and found heroin, cocaine and an unloaded handgun.

Robert Downey Jr. and his first wife, Deborah Falconer, named their son what?

Indio was born in September 1993; Falconer left in 1996, the year Downey was arrested on drug charges, and the divorce became final in 2004.

In Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Robert Downey Jr. played a journalist at which network?

CBS: he played Joe Wershba, a reporter on Edward R. Murrow's team who hides his marriage to a colleague because the network forbids staff from marrying each other.

Robert Downey Jr. played a paranoid drug addict in which 2006 Richard Linklater film, animated over live footage?

A Scanner Darkly was shot on video in about a month, then animators traced over every frame, which took more than a year; Downey played the scheming housemate Barris.

Robert Downey Jr. played crime reporter Paul Avery in which David Fincher thriller?

Zodiac follows the hunt for a killer who taunted newspapers with coded letters; unusually for a thriller, it ends as the real case did, with no one ever charged.

Which character did Robert Downey Jr. voice in a 2005 episode of Family Guy?

Patrick Pewterschmidt is Lois's long-lost brother, and the happy family reunion sours when he turns out to be the killer of the episode's title, 'The Fat Guy Strangler'.

Which actor played Obadiah Stane, the villain of Robert Downey Jr.'s first Iron Man film?

Jeff Bridges shaved his head and grew a beard to play Stane, Stark's mentor and business partner, who turns on him to seize the company.

Who plays Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's assistant, opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man (2008)?

Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper begins as Stark's assistant and ends up running his company, marrying him and, in Avengers: Endgame, fighting in an armored suit of her own.

Who directed Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man (2008)?

Jon Favreau pushed hard to cast Downey, arguing that the actor's own troubled past made him the right Tony Stark; Favreau also plays Stark's driver, Happy Hogan.

Robert Downey Jr. first reprised the role of Tony Stark with a brief appearance in which 2008 film?

The Incredible Hulk ends with Stark walking into a bar to tell General Ross that a team is being put together, a cameo that tied Marvel's separate films into one shared universe.

What was the name of the self-absorbed method actor Robert Downey Jr. played in Tropic Thunder?

Kirk Lazarus, a five-time Oscar winner within the film, undergoes 'pigmentation alteration' surgery to play a Black sergeant; the role earned Downey a real Best Supporting Actor nomination.

In which 2009 biopic did Robert Downey Jr. portray Los Angeles columnist Steve Lopez?

The Soloist follows Lopez's friendship with Nathaniel Ayers, played by Jamie Foxx, a gifted musician who left Juilliard after a breakdown and ended up homeless on the city's streets.

Who directed Robert Downey Jr. as the detective in Sherlock Holmes (2009)?

Guy Ritchie remade Holmes as a brawling action hero; he and Downey, both martial-arts enthusiasts, took their cue from the fighting art Conan Doyle gave the detective in the stories.

Which actor played Watson to Robert Downey Jr.'s Golden Globe-winning Sherlock Holmes in the 2009 film?

Jude Law played Dr. Watson in both films; the mystery competed as a comedy at the Golden Globes, where Downey won best actor in a musical or comedy.

Robert Downey Jr.'s non-Marvel film of 2010 was which road-trip comedy?

Due Date has him as an expectant father forced to drive cross-country with Zach Galifianakis after a row on a plane gets him put on the no-fly list; it made $211 million on a $65 million budget.

Robert Downey Jr. first planned to star in which HBO drama that his company Team Downey produced in 2020?

Perry Mason was developed with Downey in the title role, but his film schedule forced him out, so Matthew Rhys took the part while Downey stayed on as executive producer.

In The Judge (2014), Robert Downey Jr. plays a hotshot lawyer who returns to small-town Indiana from which city?

Chicago defense lawyer Hank Palmer goes home for his mother's funeral and ends up defending his estranged father, the town's judge, on a murder charge.

In The Avengers (2012), Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark suggests the team try which food?

Shawarma: a scene tucked into the credits shows the worn-out heroes eating it, and Los Angeles restaurants reported a jump in orders the weekend the film opened.

In Iron Man 3, Stark faces a terrorist known by what name?

The Mandarin, played by Ben Kingsley, turns out to be a front: an English actor named Trevor Slattery, hired to be the face of another man's bombings.

On which planet does Stark fight Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War?

Titan is Thanos's ruined homeworld; the fight ends with Doctor Strange trading the Time Stone for Stark's life.

Which Marvel villain was Robert Downey Jr. revealed to be playing at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024?

Doctor Doom: Downey was unmasked on stage among two dozen robed, masked figures, the hero of the Avengers films returning as their villain five years after Tony Stark's death.

Whom did Robert Downey Jr. play in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer?

Lewis Strauss, the Atomic Energy Commission chairman who sets up the hearing that strips Oppenheimer of his security clearance; the role won Downey his first Oscar.

Which Oppenheimer co-star won Best Actor on the night Robert Downey Jr. won his Oscar?

Cillian Murphy played the title role; Downey had cut his usual fee to a reported $4 million for the chance to work with Christopher Nolan.

Which 2024 HBO series earned Robert Downey Jr. a Primetime Emmy nomination for a multi-role performance?

The Sympathizer has him play a string of American power figures, from a CIA agent to a congressman; he shaved his head for the shoot so each new look could go on without a bald cap.

Robert Downey Jr. made his 2024 Broadway debut as a novelist tempted by artificial intelligence in which play?

McNeal, by Ayad Akhtar, staged its own theme at Lincoln Center: projections showed deepfake composites of Downey's character delivering some of the dialogue.

What was the title of Robert Downey Jr.'s only studio album, released in 2004?

The Futurist reached number 121 on the Billboard 200; eight of its ten songs are ballads he wrote himself, and he plays piano on several of them.

Which actress did Robert Downey Jr. date from 1984 to 1991 after they met on the set of Firstborn?

Sarah Jessica Parker and Downey met as co-stars on Firstborn and lived together for years; both have said his drug and alcohol addiction ended the relationship.

Which California governor pardoned Robert Downey Jr. in December 2015?

Jerry Brown issued the pardon on Christmas Eve 2015; it left the 1996 drug conviction on Downey's record but restored rights such as serving on a jury.

Which organization did Robert Downey Jr. found to use robotics and nanotechnology to clean up the environment?

Footprint Coalition was unveiled at an Amazon tech conference in 2019 and went on to back green start-ups, among them a French company that farms insects.

Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan produced which Netflix fantasy series?

Sweet Tooth, about a boy who is half deer, was first ordered as a pilot by Hulu in 2018 before the project moved to Netflix two years later.

Who took over as James Rhodes, Tony Stark's best friend, opposite Robert Downey Jr. from Iron Man 2 onward?

Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard and was given only a few hours to decide whether to take the part; he went on to wear the War Machine armor.

Which actor, Robert Downey Jr.'s co-star in the 1985 teen film Tuff Turf, later voiced his enemy Ultron?

James Spader led Tuff Turf with Downey as his sidekick; thirty years later he played Ultron, the rogue artificial intelligence Tony Stark helps create.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Tropic Thunder performance lost the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to which actor?

Heath Ledger won for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight, a year after his death; his parents and sister accepted the Oscar on stage on his behalf.

In which 1993 comedy is Robert Downey Jr.'s character possessed in turn by four ghosts?

Heart and Souls: the four died in a bus crash at the moment his character was born, and years later he lends them his body so each can settle unfinished business.

Which 1994 romance paired Robert Downey Jr. with Marisa Tomei and Billy Zane?

Only You sends Tomei's bride-to-be to Italy chasing 'Damon Bradley', the name a Ouija board gave her as a child; Downey's character pretends to be that man to win her.

Which magazine named Robert Downey Jr. the world's highest-paid actor three years running, from 2013 to 2015?

Forbes put his 2013 earnings at $75 million, and about $50 million of that came from a single film, The Avengers, which had taken $1.5 billion at the box office.

Which screen veteran earned an Oscar nomination as Robert Downey Jr.'s father in The Judge (2014)?

Robert Duvall played Judge Joseph Palmer, a small-town judge who lands in the dock himself and at first refuses to let his son defend him.

Which villain does Robert Downey Jr.'s detective fight in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)?

Professor Moriarty, played by Jared Harris, schemes to start a war across Europe; Holmes stops him by dragging him over the Reichenbach Falls.

Which actor voiced J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony Stark's AI assistant, opposite Robert Downey Jr. before playing Vision?

Paul Bettany took the voice job as a favour, admitting he had little idea what the role was; seven years later the character was given a body and he stepped on screen as Vision.

Which 1988 teen drama paired Downey with Kiefer Sutherland and Winona Ryder?

1969 casts him as Ralph, who flunks out of college and so loses his protection from the Vietnam draft, sending him and Sutherland's character out on the road.

Which Oscar winner starred opposite Robert Downey Jr. in the 2003 thriller on which he met his wife Susan?

Halle Berry plays a psychiatrist who wakes up as a patient in her own hospital, accused of murder, with Downey as the colleague now assigned to treat her.

Downey's 2000 arrest came on Thanksgiving after police searched his room at a hotel and spa in which city?

Palm Springs police found cocaine and Valium in his hotel room only months after his release from prison; he kept his TV role until a second arrest the following April.

Which Shane Black directorial debut gave Downey a lead role in 2005?

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang cast him as a petty thief who stumbles into a film audition while fleeing the police; the performance helped persuade the director of Iron Man that he could play Tony Stark.

Robert Downey Jr. signed a 2005 deal with HarperCollins for what kind of book, only to hand back the advance?

A memoir: he had promised a candid account of his life, then returned the advance in July 2008, two months after Iron Man made him a box-office star again.

In a 2007 David Fincher thriller, Downey played crime reporter Paul Avery, who worked at which newspaper?

San Francisco Chronicle: after the killer he was covering sent the real Avery a threatening Halloween card, nearly the whole newsroom took to wearing buttons declaring they were not Avery.

Downey, Ben Stiller and Jack Black played Gladys Knight's Pips in a sketch on the 2008 finale of which show?

American Idol: promoting Tropic Thunder, the three mugged as backing singers to archive footage of Gladys Knight singing 'Midnight Train to Georgia'.

Which musician had Downey join him for 'Driven to Tears' at his own 60th birthday concert in 2011?

Sting's 60th-birthday concert at New York's Beacon Theatre in October 2011 had Downey join him on 'Driven to Tears'; they had first duetted a decade earlier, on 'Every Breath You Take' in a 2001 TV episode.

In Dolittle (2020), Downey gave the animal-talking doctor an accent from which country?

Wales: Downey said he based his Dolittle on William Price, an eccentric 19th-century Welsh doctor and druid, because he didn't want to do another English accent.