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Despite the openness about his jail time, Downey doesn't feel like dwelling on the past. "I don't want to talk about it too much, because it's like talking to someone about going through chemotherapy," he says, turning very serious and lighting a cigarette. "It was awful, it was highly personal, it had a direct correlation to the effects of a disease, and it doesn't do me much benefit to go into all the details of what this horrible experience was like for me."
Fair enough. Anybody who follows the news knows all about the actor's longtime battle with drugs and his myriad legal wrangles. The son of heralded underground director Robert Downey (Putney Swope), he got small movie roles until a season-long stint on Saturday Night Live served as a springboard into "brat-pack" films in the mid-'80s. The brilliance he displayed in such roles as the druggy Gen-Xer in 1987's Less Than Zero and later in his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin deepened the tragedy as he began spiraling down into a cycle of drug arrests, jail sentences and relapses.
The tough question is, Will he stay out of trouble this time? Friends and colleagues are hopeful but uncertain. "Robert is very ambitious," says director James Toback, who cast Downey in his first starring role in The Pick-Up Artist and wrote Two Girls and a Guy for the actor after seeing him handcuffed on TV at the time of an earlier arrest. "He has a ravenous appetite for money, fame and to do great work. Paradoxically, he's oblivious to making a constructive path to reach that goal. People with one-tenth his talent are more practical in achieving the success they want. Right now, he's in a state of ignorance about himself and his future."
Fortunately for Downey, his talent is so highly prized that people are eager to work with him despite the risks. Actor-director Tim Robbins approached him for a role in his next project, The Cradle Will Rock, but the New York shoot conflicted with Downey's probation restrictions. Oliver Stone, Barry Levinson and Dustin Hoffman have all shown interest in future collaborations. "It's not just because he has great talent, which is undeniable," says Jodie Foster, who directed Downey in Home for the Holidays. "People who know him really feel for him." Others express similar support. "He's one of the most remarkable actors of his generation," declares In Dreams director Neil Jordan, who last saw Downey when he was released briefly to re-record some dialogue for the film. "He's hardworking, consistently concentrated. My perception is that the more he works in rewarding jobs and expands his horizons, the less chance he'll get into trouble. I'd work with him again in a minute."