September/October 2008
www.thestarwalkers.com

Robert Downey Jr. - April 4th, 1965 -

Written by –
Ray Wicks

FROM THE POTTER'S WHEEL

It was as if you were seeing some invisible force molding and shaping Robert Downey Jr. on the potter’s wheel as he went through ordeal after ordeal. There’s not a person around that would doubt Robert Downey Jr. has been through a lot in his short and prolific lifetime.

From the actor’s first role as a puppy in his father Robert Downey’s film “Pound” (1970) to his latest Blockbuster “Iron Man” (2008), Downey Jr. has reached the greatest heights and has hit the lowest lows one might expect in his road to super stardom. But let’s take a look at how he got from brittle clay to iron man.

FROM CLAY TO IRON

After dropping out of Santa Monica high school, Downey Jr. moved to New York and worked numerous odd jobs, including one where he was a piece of living art in an NYC nightclub.

His first real break as an actor came in 1982 with a small role, though he was not credited, in his father’s film “America”, which wasn’t released until 1986. From that he was finally able to land credited role in 1983’s “Baby, It’s You”, directed by John Sayles.

Over the next few years he pinned down roles in a few teen films such as “Weird Science” (1985) and “Back to School” (1986), but it wasn’t until 1987 that Downey Jr. had a breakthrough role with his great performance as a cocaine addict in “Less than Zero”. This role, in particular, seemed to foreshadow what was to become of the rising star.

THE IRON IS POURED

Year after year he nailed every role he stepped into, including his best performance, arguably, as Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough’s “Chaplin” (1992) for which Downey Jr. received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

His off-screen antics had always been something for the tabloids, but it was a 1996 arrest that spurred the beginning of the actor’s troubles with the law. The police had stopped him for speeding but wound up finding drugs and an unloaded weapon in his car.  As part of his three-year probation sentence, Downey Jr. went in and out of drug rehab, but surprisingly continued to work in film. However, he was re-arrested the following year, after he missed a mandatory drug test. Two years later, he was imprisoned for repeatedly breaking probation.

The actor spent a full year in prison until his release in 2000, where an appeals court found that he served a just amount of time, and he immediately was entered into a drug treatment facility.

From there, he was determined to get back on the acting “horse” and take it for another ride. His first job since his imprisonment was a recurring role on the hit show “Ally McBeal”, where Downey Jr. played Calista Flockhart’s love interest.

LESS THAN ZERO? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Later in fall the fall of the same year his personal troubles resurfaced, as the actor was arrested, again, on weapons and drug possession charges. Still, it was like he had iron skin because two months later he picked up a Golden Globe Award for “best supporting actor in a comedy series which aired on the Fox network. But after another drug related arrest, Producer David E. Kelley fired Downey Jr. and wrote him out of Ally McBeal’s life.

From 1996 through 2001, Downey Jr. was arrested numerous times on drug-related charges and several times went through drug treatment programs unsuccessfully, explaining in 1999 to a judge "It's like I have a loaded gun in my mouth and my finger's on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gunmetal."

He also explained his relapses by claiming to be addicted to drugs since the age of eight when his father offered him a marijuana joint.

THE IRON IS MOLDED & CAST 10 YEARS EARLIER

Then came May 2nd, 2008 when Jon Favreau’s critically acclaimed “Iron Man” (2008) hit theaters and rocked Hollywood, with Downey Jr. playing the lead as Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes a technologically advanced superhero.

The film had been in development since 1990 at Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox, and New Line Cinema, which was written and rewritten but never reached the production slate, even with the likes of Tom Cruise showing interest in the lead.

It wasn’t until ten years later that Marvel Comics reacquired the rights from Universal in 2006. Marvel immediately wrote a new script for the film and put it into full swing as their first self-financed feature.

The film’s director Jon Favreau wanted to cast a newcomer for the role of Tony Stark, but ultimately chose Downey Jr. (a fan of the comic) because he felt that his personal past was an appropriate choice for the part. “The best and worst moments of Robert’s life have been in the public eye,” the director explained. “He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That’s Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic book character who is having trouble in high school, or can’t get the girl.”

Downey Jr.’s costar Jeff Bridges, who plays Obadiah Stane, Stark’s second in command, was also a fan of the comic book series. He was so excited about getting cast in the role, that he shaved his head and grew out a grey beard for the part. As part of his character preparation, Bridges researched the Book of Obadiah, and he was surprised to learn that retribution was a major theme in that particular book of the Bible, something that the character Stane represents. And that is certainly a key part of what Star Walker encompasses – ideals and themes from different books of the Bible that many of the Star Walker characters represent and inspire.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. IS A TRUE MAN OF IRON

We here at Star Walker would like to salute Robert Downey Jr. for his commitment to the craft, his undying endeavor of maintaining artistic excellence and his passion for getting the job done, regardless of his past stumbling or mistakes in his personal life. He stands for the innate ability we all possess in overcoming the evils that try to bring us down, whether self induced or from outside influences. His example gives many people, artist and non-artist alike, hope for the future.

Within the ranks of the elite warriors known as Ken Ju Kai (from the world of Star Walker), we extend to you, Robert Downey Jr., the honorary 5th Rank Ken Ju Kai. We are inspired by your subscription and master of the ‘art of winning’. May god continue to embrace and keep your spirit.

Commenteors – What other people have to say about this Star Walker of the Month, these commentaries are like comets and meteors, brief but prolific and enlightening – sure to leave a trail of insightfulness across your heart - what we call Commenteors.

To Star Walk – Click here and find the star of Robert Downey Jr. as he is forever remembered in the galaxy of the stars within the Star Walker Universe. View and watch the skies slowly fill in the coming months and years as the light of Star Walker, after Star Walker, after Star Walker fills the heavens. We do this as an interactive tribute to those who have through fate, destiny, and even under divine purpose, left the rest of us behind, as well as to those who are still with us.

PAST STAR WALKERS OF THE MONTH:

June/August 2008 - Harrison Ford
April/May 2008 – Oprah Winfrey
February/March 2008 – Bob Marley
January 2008 – Seal & Heidi Klum
December 2007 – Star Walker of the Year - Chuck Norris
November 2007 – Brandon Lee
October 2007 – Queen Latifah
September 2007 – Vince Lombardi
August 2007 – Chuck Norris
July 2007 - Deforest Kelley
June 2007 - Liviu Librescu
May 2007 - Watchman Nee
April 2007 - Helen Hayes
March 2007 - Nelson Mandela
February 2007 - James Brown
January 2007 - Mother Teresa
December 2006 - Paul Allen Knopf
November 2006 - Princess Diana

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