Every person
has his/her list of inspirational individuals; who is a like a role model to
you, whose life you find highly influencing, whose achievements encourage you
to move forward and whose actions and decisions stimulate yours!
One of
the many such individuals for me is Mr. Robert Downey Jr.! Yes, the same guy
who portrays Tony Stark or rather Iron Man in the Iron Man trilogy and Sherlock
Holmes in Sherlock Holmes series!
Robert
Downey Jr., born in the year 1970, is the son of Robert Downey Sr., an actor, director
and producer, and Elsie, an actress. He was a star kid and he started his
career as a child artist in his father’s movie at the age of five. As a
teenager, he studied Performing Arts at school. Eventually, at seventeen, he dropped
out of school and moved to New York alone to pursue acting as a full-time
career.
He started
with theatre, then television series, later playing sidekicks in certain movies.
He backed his first lead role in “The Pick-up Artist”. In 1987, he played a role
of a drug-addict rich boy in “Less Than Zero”, a performance which was widely praised.
This performance resulted to roles in many bigger budget movies. Eventually in
1992, he played Charlie Chaplin in “Chaplin”. He earned an Academy Award
nomination for this role. His run in Hollywood extended in the 90’s with many
other movies, none being note-worthy.
From 1996
to 2001, he was arrested numerous times for drug related charges including
cocaine, heroin and marijuana. In 1996, he was arrested for possession of
heroin and cocaine and sentenced to three years of probation. He missed his compulsory
tests in 1997 and 1999 and was sentenced to prison term. The movies featuring
him were shelved and cancelled. He went to several drug treatment programs
unsuccessfully, explaining: “It’s like I’ve got a shotgun in my mouth with my
finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of gun metal.” He was released in
2000 on bail. Again in 2001, he was arrested for having cocaine in his system. As
opposed to earlier, Downey pleaded to be sent to drug rehabilitation, avoiding
jail time. He spent the year overcoming his addictions and helping the other
offenders for the same. His movies were cancelled, rescheduled or given a new
face.
Downey
attributed his drug addiction to his father who was also a drug addict. His father
allowed him marijuana at the age of six!
Downey stated that drugs became the only emotional bond between him and
his father: “When my dad and I used to do drugs together, it was like him
expressing his love in a way only he knew.”
Drugs made him get divorced from his wife, who took custody of their
only son, after about a decade of married life.
After
starting a drug-free life in 2003, he struggled with movies and television. He tried
his voice in singing by releasing his own album, but it failed to garner any
recognition. Till 2005, he did certain movies but none of his performances made
him elevate to the level. He married the producer of his 2003 movie “Gothika”,
whom he credits for helping him kick his drug and alcohol habits, in 2005.
His real comeback of sorts came in 2007 when he was signed for
the lead role of “Iron Man” and prepared for it. The movie released in 2008
earning over 300 million dollars. This resulted in him portraying the same
character in “Iron Man 2” and recently released “Avengers”! Downey also
featured in “Tropic Thunder” in 2008 which gave him an Academy Award nomination
for supporting actor. In 2010, he played the suave detective Sherlock Holmes in
the “Sherlock Holmes” and followed it with “Sherlock Holmes: A game of Shadows”.
He won a Golden globe for his performance as Sherlock Holmes. His golden run in
Hollywood still goes on.
I don’t
know if anyone else would find his life inspiring, but I do! For the basic
reason that being administered drugs at the age of six, where practically
children have no sense to categorize between wrong and right, and leading a
life with drugs for a long span of life, Robert Downey Jr.’s transformation
from a troubled young actor to a
flamboyant and charismatic hero now, is remarkable! After a spurt of arrests
and jail term, no movies to do, failed marriage, loneliness and a rusty image
at hand, he outgrew everything to rise to the higher scale!
If you
actually observe him, or rather listen to his interviews, you will find that
Robert Downey Jr. is no ordinary man. He speaks like an achiever! His personality
is highly attractive making him likeable as a person. The confidence he bestows
in his performances, press conferences and interviews is magnificent and
unparallel. His journey from the struggles of being an actor to getting known
to being confined in prison cells and rooms of rehab to, eventually, the list
of top actors by TIME magazine is worth a Salute!
He
provides a perfect example that life doesn’t stop after it has hit a bottom. In
fact, it provides a platform to rise to higher pinnacles! He also conveys that
there can always be a second innings to life, provided you decide and strive to
take it up.
“Life
ain’t about how hard you hit….. It’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving
forward….. How much you can take and keep moving forward…. That’s how WINNING
is done!” For me, Robert
Downey Jr. is an illustration of this quote.
He once
quoted: “Look, even bad years are pretty good years, I think!
I think, I’ve been lucky, being my frequent appearances on Court TV have bought
me to another level than just the actor guy!”
Robert
Downey Jr., indeed, showed and continues to show the world that it is
completely sane to be born insane!
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