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Movies and showbiz don’t just make our wildest imaginations come alive onscreen, the profession is known to have catapulted many stars to unimaginable fame and stardom. Rags to riches stories of stars like Rajinikanth, Jackie Shroff, Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff and many more have inspired many through the years, but did you know the highest paid actor in the history of world cinema was once jailed for substance abuse and struggled with addiction for years?
Many know and adore Robert Downey Jr for his movie roles. For others, he is Iron-Man. However, before his stars aligned and he catapulted to superstardom in Hollywood, he had a brush with the law. Before Downey Jr started working in Hollywood, he was a stage actor. His initial screen roles, which date back to the late 70s and early 80s made him the young and promising actor to watch out for. But he silently struggled with drug addiction. Less Than Zero, which released in 1987, earned him glowing reviews. However, soon after, Downey Jr checked into a rehab, and his struggle to stay sober continued for a decade thereon.
Downey’s legal troubles date to June 1996, when he was stopped for speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway and authorities found cocaine, heroin and a pistol in his vehicle. A month later, he was found passed out on a child’s bed in a neighbour’s home. Three days later, he was arrested for leaving a recovery center. He was jailed in August 1999 after he admitted during a probation hearing that he was missing scheduled drug tests. Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira sentenced him to three years in prison for violating his probation. He spent nearly 15 months behind bars. In prison, Downey would get into fights often due to his celebrity status.
After his wife Susan’s “ultimatum”, Robert Downey Jr committed to a lasting path of recovery in 2003, leaving behind a destructive cycle of arrests, rehab stints and prison time from the late 1980s and 1990s.
In 2006, Downey was cast as the titular character in Iron Man. The movie released in 2008 and the rest became history. Over the next decade, he would be the driver of Marvel Studios’ big plan of comic book adaptations as part of the MCU. Downey and others drove the franchise to unparalleled fandom and unprecedented commercial heights, including the multi billion grossing Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. This role would make him one of the highest earning actors in the world. It is estimated that the actor cashed in $500 million to $600 million (over ₹5000 crore) total from his iconic run as Iron Man across the MCU projects. His iconic dialogue, “I am Iron-Man” in the climax of Avengers: Endgame (2019) would invite a roaring response from cinema audiences. For many, it is peak fandom moment in cinema history.
His association with the MCU continues in the hotly anticipated Avengers: Doomsday, set to release on December 18 later this year.
Reportedly, Downey Jr got a salary of $100 million (₹830 crore) for the film. This move has made him the highest paid actor ever in the history of world cinema.
