More Downey love!

"People rise out of the ashes because, at some point, they are invested with a belief in the possibility of triumph over seemingly impossible odds."

Came across an awesome article on Robert Downey Jr, which only served to make me love him more, and I thought that wasn't possible.

Excerpts:

On first love Sarah Jessica Parker

Within a year of hitting New York, Downey began getting work as an actor. In 1984, he joined Sarah Jessica Parker in the cast of the film Firstborn. They were 19 and fell in love.

"We quickly moved in together and played house," he recalls. "It was idyllic." He and Parker settled in Los Angeles, and Downey's movie career took off after his astonishing performance in 1987's Less Than Zero. It established him, at 22, as among the finest actors of his generation.

Downey fast developed a reputation as a party boy. It didn't stop him from getting major films, but his self-indulgence subverted his relationship with Parker.

"I was so selfish," he admits. "I liked to drink, and I had a drug problem, and that didn't jibe with Sarah Jessica, because it is the furthest thing from what she is. She provided me a home and understanding. She tried to help me. She was so miffed when I didn't get my act together.

"I was making money," he continues. "I was mercurial and recklessly undisciplined and, for the most part, I was happily anesthetized. Sarah Jessica would pull me out of a hangover, and we'd go pick out furniture together." He shakes his head at the memory. "She is a force of nature!"

He and Parker stayed together for seven years. She broke up with him in 1991. "I had very much this post-adolescent, faux nihilistic, punk-rock rebellious attitude," he says. "I thought my way was so much cooler than people who were actually building lives and careers.

"I was in love with Sarah Jessica," he quietly confesses, "and love clearly was not enough. I was meant to move on. And, after some heartache, she was meant to find her home with a great star." Describing Parker's husband, actor Matthew Broderick, Downey adds, "He is a lot more gifted and grounded than I ever was. They have a great kid."

On second love and ex-wife, Deborah Falconer

Shortly after his breakup with Parker, Downey married model Deborah Falconer, and their son, Indio, was born. "Our marriage and having a child probably kept me from going off the rails completely," he says, "but it wasn't enough to right the ship."

On his third love, Mrs. Downey

Meeting his third great love, producer Susan Levin, also helped his recovery. "Things started to change when I met my life partner, Mrs. Downey," he says, using Susan's married title as a sweet salute. She told me, 'I'm not doing that [drug] dance with you. I'm drawing a line in the sand here.' She was absolutely clear about it. That doesn't mean that other women, business associates, movie directors, insurance companies, judges and law enforcement hadn't been clear about it too. It was that, before I met Mrs. Downey, I just didn't give a goddamn. What changed is that I cared." Read the rest of the article HERE.

- - - - -

I think I blogged about this before, but I'll mention it again. Indio Downey, Robert's son with Deborah Falconer, is another looker, and he's the guitarist in an awesome band with kids his age (early teens!); they're called the Jack Bambis. Do check them out.