Can you guess who this acclaimed actor is?
This adorable youngster has led a rollercoaster life in Hollywood – and become one of the most in-demand stars.
Born in New York City to a famed filmmaker father and a actress mother, the future star would make his film debut aged just five in a 1970 movie.
His natural aptitude saw him join popular teen actors known as the Brat Pack – appearing in films Weird Science (1985) and Less than Zero (1987).
A BAFTA win would follow in 1992 for his performance in a biopic before drug addiction threatened to derail his career for good – amid his romance with a future Sex and the City star.
His fortunes turned around with his starring role as a superhero in 2008 – with the star finally winning an Oscar this year for an acclaimed historical drama.
So can you guess who he is?
This adorable youngster has led a rollercoaster life in Hollywood – and become one of the most in-demand stars – can you guess who he is?
It’s Robert Downey Jr! The star – now 59 – won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.
This marked his third nomination – following nods for Charlie Chaplin biopic Chaplin and Tropic Thunder.
The star was born to filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. and actress Elsie Ann.
He has previously said he was ‘surrounded by drugs’ at a young age due to his father being an addict and his mother an alcoholic.,
Robert Downey Sr. said he allowed his son to try marijuana for the first time aged six and that he ‘might have had a little coke’ as a child.
RDJ has said: ‘When my dad and I would do drugs together, it was like him trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how.’
He had a small acting role in 1970 film Pound – written by his father.
He started working in theater as a teenager – and in 1984, got a part in the film Firstborn, where he met future Carrie Bradshaw star Sarah Jessica Parker, and the pair began what would be a seven year romance.
In 1985, he was part of the new, younger cast hired for Saturday Night Live – but most of the new crew were dropped and replaced following a year of poor ratings.
That year he starred in James Spader’s sidekick in Tuff Turf and then a bully in John Hughes’s Weird Science.
It’s Robert Downey Jr! The star – now 59 – won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2024 for his role as Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer
The star is seen aged five in his movie debut in 1970’s Pound
The Oscar-winning actor has played the role of Iron Man/Tony Stark in multiple films since 2008’s Iron Man
He was in a seven year romance with Sarah Jessica Parker from 1984-1991 – but their romance ended in part due to his drug addiction
The star is pictured as Strauss in Oppenheimer
Robert Downey Sr. said he allowed his son to try marijuana for the first time aged six and that he ‘might have had a little coke’ as a child – pictured 2008
He starred alongside Molly Ringwald in The Pick-up Artist (1987) – that same year he played Julian Wells, a drug-addicted rich boy in Less than Zero.
However the star’s drug addiction was becoming more apparent – and he entered rehab for the first time after completing the film. ][40]
In 1992, he starred as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin – which saw the star’s method acting result in him learning how to play the violin as well as tennis left-handed and hire a posture coach.
He won a BAFTA and scored his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor – losing to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman.
The actor was first arrested in 1996 for possession of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded . 357-caliber Magnum, given three years of probation and required to undergo mandatory drug testing.
The next year Downey skipped a drug test and spent four months in the Los Angeles County jail
After a string of arrests in the mid-to-late ’90s for drug possession and escalating addiction, he managed to clean himself up enough to star in 2003’s The Singing Detective.
His success with that film helped him grab bigger roles, including in the critically acclaimed black comedy crime film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), and his comeback arc culminated with David Fincher’s chilling procedural thriller Zodiac (2007), in which Downey played a journalist on the trail of the notorious serial killer.
That film was a little too close to the reality of Downey’s life, as his character eventually gives up on the hunt after succumbing to a debilitating alcohol addiction
In 1992, he starred as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin – which saw the star’s method acting result in him learning how to play the violin as well as tennis left-handed and hire a posture coach
The star suffered legal troubles – he is seen in a mugshot in 1999
The star is seen with wife Susan in April – they share two children and Downey is also dad to son Indio from his marriage to Deborah Falconer
He completed a stunning career revival with 2008’s Iron Man, which became a massive box office success and was a hit with critics.
The screen star went on to play the character and his alter ego Tony Stark in two more sequels, a split-billing Captain America film and four Avengers movies, culminating in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the second-highest grossing film of all time.
Downey married actress and singer Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992, after a 42-day relationship. Their son Indio arrived the following year and they divorced in 2004 amid the strain of the actor’s drug addiction.
He is now married to producer Susan Downey and the pair share a son and daughter.
