[theme music playing]
-[crowd cheering, clapping] -[David Letterman] Thank you.
Thank you. Okay.
[cheering, clapping continues]
Thank you very much.
If you're in my position, and you come out,
and you see people, and they're responding,
even if it's artificial,
even if it's…
[laughing]
…even if it's artificially provoked,
the thrill…
[laughing]
...that runs up my spine is indescribable.
[whistling, cheering, clapping]
Thank you. Hi, how are you?
Here we go, ladies and gentlemen. I'm very excited about this.
It's gonna be fun, and you'll be home in time--
I don't know. Whatever you're gonna do at home.
[crowd laughing]
Do me a favor, please welcome two-time Academy Award nominee,
Mr. Box Office, Robert Downey Jr.
[cheering, clapping, whooping]
Hey! Robert, nice to see you.
-Been a long time. -Nice seeing you.
-Thank you very much. -Pleasure.
[cheering, clapping continues]
[whistling]
Yeah.
-How are you? -Great.
Ah…
Nice. Isn't it nice?
[cheering, whistling]
Thank you very much for your generosity. Thank you very much for being here.
Yeah.
And you know how this goes. I will ask you questions.
You can answer them. You don't have to answer them.
Uh, and I'll do most of the talking.
-Just because that's the way I am. -Great.
Uh, and I wanna start with something personal.
I thought I had to have hip replacement surgery
because it's all the thing.
-Everybody's getting something replaced. -Yeah. Yes, sir.
So, I went to the orthopedist, and she said, "No, no, no, no, no."
Are you paying attention?
-Yeah. -Okay.
-[crowd laughing] -Hold on a goddamn second.
Do you mind if I take one second for myself,
and make sure that this little look is okay here?
I know you're on a roll. You warmed them up.
-It's your night, baby. I'm just here. -I'm sorry.
-Go ahead. -That was rude of me.
-Not now, we'll get there. -Okay.
So…
[crowd laughing]
…she says, "No, you don't need the hip replacement surgery."
"You got a thing that's torqued."
"There's some kind of muscle that runs from here up here."
-Yeah. -So, I thought, "Great."
Because if you can avoid replacing major joints,
you should avoid that.
[crowd chuckling]
So, I'm reading about you,
and I come across a martial arts discipline,
and I believe your discipline is Wing Chun.
-That is correct. -Yes.
Now, given my problem…
-Yeah. -What do you think?
[audience laughing]
You know, you try to anticipate what a starter question might be…
[laughing]
…and then there's Dave Letterman.
Yeah.
I, uh…
-Martial arts is good for everything. -Mm-hm.
I would encourage you because it's a rather yin form, so it's not jujitsu,
where it would be arm-barring each other and choking each other out.
And this T-band or this whole area here,
and all th-- the, uh, the hip.
Do you feel, uh, restricted in your hip movement?
No, that's the funny thing.
I can run and do everything, which isn't much, that I used to be able to do--
But they tell you it's, like, turning to powder, and you gotta--
-It's a problem. -They just say--
They gave me a sheet of illustrated stretches.
Now, you know, how long is that gonna last?
Yeah. I mean, you can do some stretches, or you can come fight.
As long as you're doing something.
-Yeah, but… -Yeah.
Let me go get my tools. Let me take a look at this.
-[Letterman laughs] -[audience laughing]
I'm so happy you're here,
and I know a lot about you now.
And the more I know about you, the better I like you.
-Aw. [chuckles] -Yeah. And, uh…
I'll tell you, when I first came to California,
I knew of your father,
and I don't think it was entirely accurate,
but I felt and knew
that he was kind of an erudite, esoteric filmmaker.
Now, that's…
That's not entirely apt is it?
Uh, I mean, that's a glowing report, yes.
Yeah, and he was, you know, kind of a counterculture filmmaker…
from New York, and then we wound up out here for a while, and back and forth.
-Right. -Yeah.
And the-- Is it Greaser's Palace?
-Greaser's Palace. -Yes.
And is that the best known of his works?
Uh, there's a film he did in 1968 called Putney Swope.
-Oh, Putney Swope, sure. -[Robert] Which is probably a seminal one.
Greaser's Palace is one of my favorites.
There's another one called Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight,
which I like very much.
-That's lovely. -Yeah, it's a good one.
But Chafed Elbows, Babo 73, No More Excuses.
A lot of, uh--
The people like, you know, Paul Thomas Anderson,
or the people who are big Downey Sr. fans,
or my good friend Anthony Michael Hall…
Like, we quote stuff from my dad's movies all the time.
And you were in several of these? Was one of those deals where, like,
"We need a kid. Oh, what about Robert?"
-Was it kind of like that? -A hundred percent.
It was more like, "We need a kid"--
I think even in independent movies, there's child labor laws…
Mm-hm.
…but with me, it's like, "It's my kid. He'll do what I tell him."
"He'll go to bed later." So, that was…
[laughing] And was it fun? Was it like what we just did at the house?
It felt very natural, and, also, it's part of the family dynamic,
and like anything else, you learn-- You start kind of learning about life
through the lens of the stuff that your parents do.
So, in your time growing up, did you ever think to yourself,
"I'm gonna be-- Uh, I'm gonna go into computer programming.
I'm gonna go into automobile design,"
or was it always, "Well, I'm gonna be an actor."
"I might as well. We're doing it here at the house"?
Look at me.
[crowd laughing]
[Letterman chuckling]
No, what does that mean?
I mean…
[clapping]
I would jump the fence at Santa Monica High School.
I would climb into school
because I'd have missed the first few periods,
go to my girlfriend Jenee's typing class,
and kind of hang out.
Maybe go be a teacher's assistant at Theater Arts,
and then climb back over the fence.
[audience laughing]
I was not squeezing in a lot of early computer engineering classes, or…
Did you-- You graduated from high school, right?
I almost graduated.
[audience laughing]
I would have been-- [laughs]
I got a GED. We'll get into that later, but--
And what became of your girlfriend?
Um…
I don't know.
Well, she's here tonight. Come on out!
[laughing, clapping]
-That would be a great surprise. -Yeah.
Imagine the forethought to have walked me
into the Jenee Gravino story…
[Letterman chuckling]
…because she's the only one who was still local
that he could get to do a walkout.
Now, were your buddies, your high school buddies,
also interested in the theater?
Uh, like, there's three Sheen brothers.
There's Emilio, who we know of,
and there's Charlie, who's the youngest,
and the middle brother is Ramon.
Ramon Estevez.
And when I was going to SaMo High, we were doing Oklahoma.
-I'm sorry, SaMo High? -Santa Monica High School.
You know, it's SaMo High.
[audience laughing]
Sorry, my Nicorette gum.
I parked it, and then it got stuck to my teeth.
And, at some point, depending on how long this goes,
I'll need to re-up my nicotine.
All right.
Um, Ramon Estevez is this very kind of eccentric middle brother.
And he said, "You got cast as Will Parker,
you're gonna have to tap dance, so come over to my studio,
and I'll start giving you tap lessons." I was like, "You're what?"
[Letterman chuckles]
And, at their house, they had a little dance floor and a bar,
with Ramon Estevez just drilling me on these tap dance routines.
I was looking around and going like, "Well, this is not what I expected."
-[Letterman] No, no. -It came in handy later, I'll tell you.
I'm wondering-- I'm thinking of Chaplin.
I bet some of those skills,
and maybe not, maybe I'm making this up,
but were useful in that film.
Yeah, it used to be on your résumé.
It'd be called special skills, right?
So, it'd be like, "Fencing?"
"Yep."
[Letterman laughing]
"Do you ride horses?" "Like the wind."
[laughter]
"Okay, tap dancing?"
"Definitely tap dancing. I can do that."
Um, you know, it was all that stuff.
So, now, this is your father.
-This is you up through high school. -Yeah.
-Your mother an actress. -[Robert] Absolutely.
And her continuing role, regular role, in, uh…
-Mary Hartman. -Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
Yeah. And that was the last project she did, right?
Yeah, it was later, and she played a character named Muriel,
who was Charlie's odd ex-wife, and she was a burn victim, and…
And it was just a... It was just an odd… thing,
because I was used to her
always being in my dad's movies or being at home with us,
and then she was out again, in California, doing a real part.
And, obviously,
I wasn't seeing her as much 'cause she was working.
And what you knew of her, was she good at what she did?
-[Robert] Fantastic. -Yeah.
And like my missus, who's sitting right there…
Hi, hon.
…says…
[clapping, cheering]
Susan Downey, Esquire. Hi.
-Nice to see you. -[Robert] Hi.
She won't stand. I know she won't stand.
She's waving us off.
-Waving us off. -How long have you been married?
-How did you meet your wife? -Susan and I were--
Well, there's this movie called Gothika.
It's a Halle Berry kind of horror movie, right?
Remember that movie?
At the time that I was cast in Gothika,
I was at the height of my, let's say, less than hireability.
-[audience laughing] -And, um…
I think I was making about 0.4 cents on the dollar,
'cause I was having to cover my own insurance and all that stuff,
and they said, "Susan, this guy might be trouble."
"You'll have to keep an eye on him." And she did exactly that.
And how long have you been married?
We got married in 2005, so I guess it'll be, uh…
-That's about 15. -[Robert] That'll be 15.
-About 15. Well… -Yeah.
[audience cheering, clapping]
It's funny you say that too, 'cause…
my folks were married for 15 years, and that seemed--
Like, back in the... '60s, '70s, that was a good run.
-[Letterman] Mm-hm. -And I think we're gonna beat it.
-[Letterman] Good. -Yeah. Double it.
-That's good. [chuckles] -Triple it.
Now, you have, like, a menagerie at your house.
-It's the LA County Zoo West or something. -Yes, I'm like Dr. Dolittle with a budget.
-[laughs] -[audience laughing]
[country music playing]
[birds chirping]
The place was an old dog and horse rescue.
You know what I mean, it's negative space.
You see a paddock over there. You're like, "I bet we could put some goats in there."
And these are all rescue animals?
[Robert] Some of them are,
and some of them we just procured,
but they're all treated as though they just won the lottery.
What exactly are alpacas? Are they in the alpaca family?
Yeah, yeah, they're, like, less aggressive llamas.
-That's my limited understanding. -And what about yaks?
Are they in the yak family?
I don't know where-- How they stack up with a yak.
And, geographically, why do you have them?
-This is a hobby? -Right.
It's--
-We're in acquisitions around here-- -May I touch this?
I wish you would. She's Fuzzy. She's very friendly.
-She'd like to smell your head, probably. -Oh, they're charging!
-Holy shit! -[Robert chuckles]
Look out. Who did that?
Hey, leave him alone.
-What was that? -They want to be led.
These are the most docile,
thoughtful, lovely creatures.
I know nothing about alpacas.
-Clearly. [chuckles] -Except these are very cute.
What part of the world? Where are they?
-In South America? -I think South America, yeah.
How do they get the paperwork to come from South America all the way up here?
Duly noted.
All of California is a place where there's a lot of alpacas,
and there's these gals that deal in alpacas,
and they collect the wool, and they knit.
-I think we're gonna lead them out. -They're so cute.
-Hello. -Yeah, she's super friendly.
-Is it all right to touch them? -It very much is.
[Letterman] These are the strangest-looking alpacas--
[Robert] Those are the kunekune pigs.
[Letterman] Whoa, man!
Why do you have these?
-[Robert] Look at them. They're fantastic. -Okay, come on, boys. [clicks tongue]
Here we go.
It has kind of a biblical feeling to it, doesn't it?
-We taking them into town? -We're taking--
[Letterman chuckling]
What kind of excrement--
[Robert] I think that would be-- That's pig dookie right there.
That's from the pigs.
And if I were them, I'd want to drop a couple pounds
on the way down to the playground myself.
Now, she's the friendly one right here.
There you go.
[chuckling]
-The animals, they love me. -Wow.
-The animals just love me-- -A real alpaca whisperer.
Look at this. What kind of tree is this?
Uh, is it some kind of oak or something?
-[chuckling] -I don't know what it--
-It's a cedar. -Cedar!
-Is it a cedar? -I bet you're right.
How long have you and your wife lived here?
[Robert] Since 2009.
I was pretty much--
Showed up with a duffel bag
and was freeloading off her for a bunch of years,
and then we pooled our resources when our ship came in and wound up here.
Did Susan know what she was getting into when you guys met?
No, she had that lovely Midwestern naivete.
-Uh-huh. -Yeah.
And then she had a radical education.
She met both of me,
and then she ousted one of them and said she'd stick with the other one.
Was that it? Was that the whole thing? Was that the change?
Nothing's ever the whole thing, but I think you know,
when you find a great life partner,
you understand that sacrifice is not only necessary.
-And ultimatums tend to work. -[Letterman] Yeah.
[Robert] You've got Dandy and Miss Brain,
and I am leading Fuzzy and the alpha, Madre.
Miss Brain is such a cute name.
-Yeah, Miss Brain is a sweetie. -Whoa!
Oh, she's really had it.
I think they know where they're going.
Let them go, or should we take them off their chains?
No no, you tell me, but I was told we were gonna brand them.
[chuckling]
You wanna do a little DL?
[laughing]
-D slash L? -[Letterman] That was--
-I've never done that before. -[Robert] Nor I.
[chuckling]
-But they're yours. -I know. [chuckling]
What was the first non-family film you were in?
Uh, John Sayles was casting a movie called Baby It's You,
and it was Rosanna Arquette and this guy named Vinnie Spano,
and I got cast in a small part.
And I told all my friends.
I said, "Check it. I made it. Name in lights. Get ready."
[audience laughing]
"It's on like Konkey Dong."
And then, in the movie, I think there's one scene where I walk by
and another scene where I'm at a table, but there's this girl leaning forward,
so you can see everyone at the table except me.
And my friends, to their credit, coined the phrase, "Maybe it's you."
[laughing]
But were you difficult?
You know what I…
[audience laughing]
-I've read things about you that-- -If you sit forward, I'm sitting forward.
-Go ahead. -Okay.
Um…
[audience laughing, clapping]
Um…
Just between us. Come on, go ahead. Whisper it.
-No, now I'm uncomfortable. -All right, good.
[audience laughing]
[audience clapping]
When I-- And I've watched, uh--
Over the years, I would watch your films,
and I noticed a quality,
and you explain to me if I'm right or wrong about this.
When I'm watching you in a film,
I-- It's almost like you're looking at me, saying,
"Don't worry, this is just a film.
Everything's gonna be fine. Let me just take care of business here."
Am I imagining something?
[Robert] Um, no, I don't think so.
It's a familiarity.
Maybe that's a better way to describe this.
I've heard other folks say this. I think Tom Hanks will say
that we're supposed to host the experience for people,
which is I think a--
One way of saying if I get out of my own way
so I'm not self-centered and corrupting my own energy field,
'cause I'm only thinking about my performance
or my, you know, neuroses,
then I can actually invite you in to have an experience of your own.
I've been in things where somebody has said,
-"Okay, here's your part. Just read this." -[Robert] Yeah.
Now, this is not the case with you,
and this is one of those things that, uh…
Legend about Hollywood, I think, that's mostly true.
You alter scripts fundamentally
to the point of just moving the plot.
-Am I right about that or not? -When I can.
[laughing]
And what is the motivation of that?
I…
Having been raised by writers,
having been in situations where you see,
"Here was the idea for the joke.
-And here's the better play on that joke." -Mm-hm.
And there are certain occasions where you go like,
"This big block, I'm not gonna touch it."
"I'm just gonna learn as best I can because you just shouldn't play with it."
But pretty much everything else, I think it can always be improved.
I'm not precious, and I'm not into wasting time,
and I'm not into, you know,
"Let me change everything. Everyone has to learn everything else."
But you read the room and you say,
"How much room for innovation is there here?"
Also, in certain circumstances, you just suck it up,
and you just do it the normal way.
Is, um…
Are we talking about a resistance of contrivance?
Obvious contrivance.
There's a more organic way to get this across?
Well, I'll give you an example.
Half a lifetime ago,
I went to, uh…
Lord Richard Attenborough, we were about to start shooting Chaplin,
and I said, "Dickie…"
Ha!
[in British accent] "Yes, darling?"
-"Listen, your script is a joke." -[laughing]
-No! -"Um, I fixed it."
Wait, excuse me. How old were you when this--
-Twenty-five. -[Letterman] Yeah.
[crowd laughing]
I was like, "The script is a joke. No offense, but it's an episodic."
"You're not really getting a sense--"
"Don't you know that before he started shooting The Kid,
his wife had miscarried and he saw,
that was why he went and cast Jackie Coogan?"
He's like, [in British accent] "So?" And I was like, "Well, that's deep."
"That's really good, evocative. That's what people wanna see."
He goes, [in British accent] "No, we're not shooting that."
And then I kind of did a read-through of my version of his movie, Chaplin,
and then he, I guess, sat through it, and he said,
[in British accent] "Right. Anyway, see you on set next Monday,"
And then we…
-We went there. -Wow.
So, I think part of this was, I jumped the gun
with how collaborative I thought people wanted to be.
Also, at the end of the day, it's just opinions.
Well, two things wash over me here.
Uh, one, the impression of Richard Attenborough.
-Tremendous. -Thank you.
[audience clapping]
The greatest.
And also, what I was taken by in looking at your filmography…
"Robert Downey Jr. did Chaplin?"
"Yeah, Robert Downey Jr. did Chaplin."
And I watched the movie.
It's tremendous art.
It's unbelievable.
[audience cheering, clapping]
Well…
Yeah, a lot of contributing factors.
Uh, one was the first time I met Dickie,
he held up a picture of Tom Cruise to me and said,
[in British accent] "Now, isn't that a remarkable resemblance?"
"Wouldn't it be amazing if Tom Cruise played--"
And I was like, "Was I called in for a humility session?"
-What was this? -I don't know what was going on then.
I just, I "S" you not,
he held a picture of Tom Cruise and said, "That's who should play Chaplin."
-I was like, "Yeah, probably." -[audience laughing]
Yeah, well, what are you supposed to do?
-But he passed, so now what? -Get a cab at that point?
Well, how intimidating is that?
Because I think actors, like other artists,
are insecure to begin with, and you get Richard Attenborough saying,
"Oh, it's too damn bad we couldn't get Tommy."
[audience laughing]
That's as close as I--
-That was not bad. -Thanks.
That was a little more North London. Pretty good.
[clapping]
[soft rock music playing]
-I mean, you've made quite a few films. -Yeah.
And do you ever get tired of what makes it tiring?
Um, the anticipation of hard work is exhausting.
-Yeah. -The execution--
I'm always down for a good, hard time,
as long as it feels like there's a good, orderly direction,
and people are getting along and respecting each other, it's fantastic.
Fantastic.
But what you described there, in life itself, is nearly impossible.
-Orderly pursuit. -Yes.
Yes, we call it--
Usually, it's 50 monkeys fucking a football.
-Hello! -And then…
I'm sorry! What?
You know what? Is there anything here that needs to be milked?
I mean, we could take a run at the goats, but it's not my idea of a good time.
[laughs]
-[Letterman] Here we go. -Right in front of you is Cutie Boots.
She's a rescue.
Where did they come from?
Uh… a shelter.
As you know, they have the horizontal--
-[Robert] Horizontal slit. It's crazy. -Yeah, the iris is not round.
-It's horizontal. -[Robert] Yeah.
But does-- The mechanism for vision must essentially be the same,
but why that difference?
I don't know.
[chuckling]
-[Letterman] These are beautiful. -[Robert] Yeah.
[Letterman] Holy cow. Literally, holy cow.
I just put this in here.
-Yeah, yeah. -Yeah.
Thanks for pretending to help.
[Robert laughs]
-See this stuff that looks like cow shit? -Yeah, what is that?
[Letterman] I was gonna ask you if you had any idea what that was.
I don't know if that's plastique explosive, or some sort of uh…
gel ignite.
[chuckles] Come on, boys.
But we do have the area mined pretty heavily.
In a matter of fact, just so you don't step on this and ignite it,
I'll leave a marker there.
[Letterman chuckles]
[Robert] Belted Galloways. We call them Oreos.
-And what is the history of this breed? -Scottish.
[Letterman] And these are beef cows.
These are not dairy cattle here.
-These are-- -I'm really not sure.
Maybe-- Can we--
May we approach the animals?
Yeah, sure. Let's go.
Whoa, there. [chuckling]
Wow, they're beautiful, though. Will they get bigger?
[Robert] I think they're fairly big.
What do we think? 800 pounds? 1,000 pounds?
-[man] Around there. -Yeah, around there. Half-ton.
This is going so much better than I had imagined last night.
I can't tell you.
Okay, no. No trampling.
Sad news from Malibu today.
-Film star, Robert Downey Jr.-- -Who'd get top billing?
I would never let anything happen to you on my watch, Dave.
You know, I feel the same way.
Because you have your whole life ahead of you.
-Aw, thanks. -Look at me, I'm 100.
I'd throw myself in front of them.
-Not really. I'd throw him in front-- -Have you had your fun?
I'd throw him in front of-- All right, let's just back away now.
How did you get them here from Scotland?
People show me pictures and say, "What about these?"
And I go, "Is this all you got?"
"Let me see some other ones."
And then, it's kind of like casting.
[audience laughing]
"Now, these two are brother and sister."
"Oh, but aren't the pigs brother and sister?"
Cutie Boots, and what's the other pig's name?
Pops.
-The pig's name is Pops. -Pops and Cutie Boots.
And Flash, and Trigger, and Memo.
Now, let me interject, uh…
-Am I getting names wrong? -[laughter]
I'm not a farmer, am I?
Sorry, hon.
Yeah. Okay. So, then I watched Less Than Zero.
-Oh, wow. -And, oh…
[audience clapping]
It killed me,
because I have a 16-year-old son, younger than your character,
but, nonetheless,
headed in the direction of adolescence and beyond.
-Yep. -And it's pretty goddamn frightening.
[Robert] Yeah.
I saw it again recently too,
and it's just kind of so of its time, and yet, I think you're right.
It is a cautionary tale
for kind of what folks try to do to fit in.
And this director, Marek Kanievska,
um, he was exceptional. Exceptional, exceptional guy.
And we did rehearsals where he said, uh…
He said, "I want you to go out and try to get Andrew McCarthy in trouble."
I said, "That won't be a problem."
He said, "Good. It's important."
"I want, like, contact with law enforcement."
"I want him having to talk to the cops out of putting you in the car."
I go, "Also, that's not gonna-- That'll be pretty easy."
[audience laughing]
And he said, "I want Andrew McCarthy
to feel like he's responsible for whether you live or die."
-Whoa. -And I was like, "Wow. Okay."
And then enter McCarthy, who was like, "Marek has these crazy ideas."
"Will you stop walking on the median on Santa Monica Boulevard
and getting cops to pull over
and think you're crazy, or drunk, or something?"
I said, "No."
While I was already a little bit ensconced,
the depravity and the excess that that movie represented,
it was kind of like I got to put on the mask
of a worst-case scenario thing, you know,
and kind of express myself through it a little bit.
What was the step that you missed
that caused you to over-experiment or overindulge, or indulge at all?
First of all, I think it's always a cultural thing, you know?
And, um, in--
As the AMA will say that alcoholism or addiction,
it's essentially a brain disease,
but it's a brain disease that…
people don't wanna take the cure for when it's offered.
So, it's a very insidious thing.
But as far as where a tipping point was, I don't know--
You were a kid, relatively speaking, when this began in a serious fashion.
-Yeah, and-- -Now, I don't--
I have no understanding of this other than my own--
I was an alcoholic, but it's-- And there are many--
-Wait, you were an alcoholic? -Yes.
Yeah. Yeah.
[audience laughing]
I mean, wow. I'm gonna watch this back and say I actually learned something.
[chuckling] But, uh…
So, when you were at your lowest, and there are points--
And I did the chronology on this loosely,
and the trouble seems to have spanned from 1996…
Yes.
…to about 2004.
-Correct. -Now, we--
[audience laughs]
We assume that because the records don't go back that far,
that there was something prior--
-There's a prehistory there. -Yeah. And I'm thinking to myself,
"He kept doing it, uh, and kept working."
Was it fun to keep doing it?
Nope.
-So, that's interesting, isn't it? -Yeah, but, I mean, from roughly--
From the first time, the first cigarette, joint, you know, drug, whatever,
from the ages of 8 to 38,
that's a crazy--
Like, for my generation, and I--
-Eight to 38? -Yeah, basically eight to 38.
-Eight to 38? -[Robert] You heard me.
[audience laughing]
Now, is this the often-cited situation at the--
Your father and you sharing marijuana?
Yeah, you know, and…
culturally speaking,
the entire ecosystem we were in was all about,
"If they're saying we shouldn't do this, we're doubling down."
Because it was a time when--
How mysterious, things tend to repeat themselves.
The distrust of the machinations of government,
and society, and the haves and the haves nots--
So, to me, it was just a culture that I was raised in.
Now, if we were to have a Robert Downey Jr. film festival…
Yes.
…uh, which is…
[audience laughing]
-Which is a-- -A bad idea.
[chuckling]
[audience clapping]
Would you be willing, or could anybody else say,
"Oh, I bet he's in trouble here."
"This movie, he looks like he's not in trouble."
-Right. -"This--"
I mean, is it that apparent, or were you able to work through this,
or you didn't use when you were working?
Right. Yeah, I mean, there was a single crossover,
and I call it the most relaxed performance in the history of cinema,
-Um… -[chuckling]
called Home for the Holidays, which is a movie I did with Jodie Foster,
and she was really critical and just being like,
"Well, looks like you're getting away with it on this one."
"I wouldn't try this again, because we're kind of a forgiving group."
And I was like, "Wasn't that last take great?"
She goes, "Yeah, you're great." "It's going great."
-Um… -[laughing]
[audience laughing]
And then when I was, you know, locked up in a penitentiary,
she sent me a letter saying,
"Let me tell you what I meant by 'It's going great.'"
You know, but, uh…
[Letterman] You're in prison for crap's sake,
and what does it represent to you now, that period?
I don't want the details of being in prison.
Are you sure?
[audience laughing]
-I've been through some bad stuff too. -Yeah.
And people who go overseas and fight come home with PTSD.
A hundred percent.
So, we assume that, at its worst, that stays with you the rest of your life.
Well, first of all, I never thought when I was a kid--
Like, if someone had sat me down and said, "Listen, heh, you're gonna love this."
[audience laughing]
"Here's the way your life is gonna lay out."
I would have screeched.
But I knew--
And this judge, Judge Mira--
I knew that I was playing with a guy
who was not kidding about the fact that a suspended sentence
means if you do well, we won't send you away,
and once that suspended sentence is no longer suspended,
it drops on you, and you gotta go do your time.
And I think it was just a sort of an arrested development
of not believing that the repercussions--
Thinking I could sneak around and get away with it.
So, I'll look back through some stuff,
like Back to School, the Rodney Dangerfield movie.
There was a scene or two there where I remember--
I was not blotto while we were shooting,
but I had literally just been woken up out of a near coma
to go do, like, a five-page scene.
And back then, when you're a kid--
I was doing that
and shooting Saturday Night Live, alternately.
You could say it was "fun."
-But it was pretty stressful too. -Mm-hm, mm-hm.
We're talking about cocaine?
-Yes. -Talking about other substances?
-Oh, yeah, I mean-- -Heroin?
Yes, but, by the way, I like drinking a lot too.
I just wanna see if we can relate to each other.
[audience laughing]
Sometimes, if I was getting on one of those coast-to-coast flights,
if the flight crew had gotten to know me,
they would just empty out a whole--
like a little trough of little mini bottles just for me.
Same thing happened to me.
I'm coming back from a club date in Denver.
Flying home, they get to know me.
They just handed me the quart that they had up in the gallery--
There it is, service with a smile. Oh, my God.
But then, uh…
If what I read is accurate,
uh, you talk to your mother, at a very low point…
Yes.
…uh, and that's when you stopped.
And I assume that there had been rehab here, rehab there.
Oh, you bet.
I love a good rehab.
-But it didn't-- -It's like a rest stop.
It didn't take, did it?
Well, I also think it takes what it takes, and--
'Cause I know a fair amount of people right now,
because, guess what?
You know, addiction, alcoholism
are thriving as much today as they ever were.
And you see them, you know, of a certain age,
and they're just starting to get into the denial,
and then the repercussions, and then, you know, the court cases,
and then the this and that.
It kind of just makes me reflective on what is that really about?
And why do people ever change?
And how much of it is luck, and how much of it is trying to develop
a good moral psychology?
'Cause you would do the gig, and then it used to be,
"Well, we did our performance thing."
-"Now, this is our time." -That's right.
And our time in the community used to mean,
"Let's get the bottle. Let's get the thing."
We need to be rewarded for what we have done.
But I-- I'm sorry to interrupt.
-No, please. -Take a look at the monitor right there.
[chuckles] Dave, do you want me to smooth the back of your hair?
Will you take care of it? I have no idea what they're talking about.
[Robert] Oh, my God. You're right. Hold on.
[audience clapping, cheering]
-Do you want me to dip coffee or water? -Whatever it takes.
I'm just tired of being…
[audience laughing]
[laughing intensifies]
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
[audience clapping]
[Letterman] God bless you.
Uh, but from my experience, and I can remember,
uh, when I was nine or ten having my first drink.
My dad just said--
It was Christmas time. He was drinking scotch and soda.
"You want to?" "Sure, I wanna try it." And it was bang, zoom.
It wasn't like, "No."
It was, "Holy cow!"
And I kept drinking, and I--
My experience, not that anybody cares, but I love talking about myself.
We do. This is actually new information.
I would go to the doctor for a checkup,
and he'd say, "Oh, jeez, your liver seems a little swollen."
And he said, "Do you drink?"
And I said, "I have a beer every now and then."
But that's not true. I was drunk every gosh dang day.
Wow.
And so, finally, when I get to be 34, and I had another shot at television,
I realized the only thing I can do to throw this away
is let alcohol run my life.
And, boom, that was it.
And have not had anything to drink ever since, and--
-[audience clapping, cheering] -Oh, thank you very much.
This colors my understanding of you,
because, maybe back in the day, I would've been like,
"What's he looking at me all stern for?"
"He's probably getting his liver pushed on saying everything's fine too."
-No, it was-- -My gosh. You already had--
I'm so grateful not to have that as a control of me.
-Oh, yeah. -For better or for worse.
And so grateful that I didn't hurt someone else in the process.
Absolutely, man.
[audience clapping]
[birds chirping]
Um… do we have some feed for Dave?
-Oh, my God. This is fantastic. -Oh, now, this was gonna be--
-Oh, look, the poor thing. -Yeah.
Oh, by the way, it's kind of customary that I go make some Arnold Palmers
when folks are here, and you put in some hard work.
-I'll catch you in a bit. -I haven't broken a sweat.
[Robert] Great. Well, you will.
This-- This makes that Jack Hanna look like a dope, doesn't it?
Here you go, buddy. Here, have some of this.
If I had to do this all day…
there are worse things.
[guitar playing]
Now, uh…
We're in the pig, literally the pigpen,
and I'm taking care of the, uh…
you know.
-Thank you. -There you go, Cedro.
Thanks a lot. How's it going, Dave?
Good. What the… [clears throat]
Okay.
I get round two?
Oh, God. I'm sorry.
Heh.
Are you?
-You ever do this, Robert? -Never once.
But you know what? You've inspired me.
I may start interacting more directly in the care of the animals.
Now, look at that.
-Goddang! Nice work, buddy. -Yeah, exactly.
I'm not kidding around, pal.
-[Robert] It is a meditation, isn't it? -It is.
Chop wood, carry water, you know?
This is me imparting my spiritual wisdom.
Who does this when I'm not here?
Is Conan O'Brien coming up next week?
[laughing]
-Look, who does that? -You wanna see this, trust me.
Nobody.
You think Ellen would be out here doing-- No, she has people to do it.
What about your-- You mentioned your kids.
What about your parenting? You and your wife with your kids?
I don't have all that much say in the parenting.
-I just show up. -[chuckling]
I show-- I'm like a limo driver from the '80s.
"Be there at eight o'clock as directed."
Here's a question you get all the time. Do the kids like seeing you in your films?
Yeah, I guess so.
They have a passing interest in me, generally.
-A passing interest. -[audience laughing]
But I can also tell, like, uh…
Like, Exton, our boy, like, he has an Iron Man.
A pretty dumb, cheap one too. I should get him a good one.
A little Iron Man head by his bed, and I go like,
"Does he have that 'cause he likes that-- Him better than Hawkeye?"
"I think he likes Hawkeye better. Is he just trying to let me know
that I'm still up there somewhere in the top ten superheroes he likes?"
You know.
I-- When they--
When that thing clamps onto your head,
is that thing really there, or is it not really there?
Excellent question.
'Cause it--
[chuckling]
[audience laughing, clapping]
Initially, it was-- Everything was really there.
They wanted to spend as little as they could
on CG replacement.
So I remember this helmet went on, and, like,
there'd be a shot, and I'd be in this whole suit.
And they'd say, "All right, Robert, it's like you landed on the roof,
so when we say 'action,'
just go like that, like he just landed, and start moving forward."
So I put this helmet on,
and it slammed closed, and I couldn't see anything.
And then these LED lights went on,
and it was like Manchurian Candidate.
Like, I couldn't-- I was absolutely blinded.
By the time were doing the last Avengers, they'd just be like,
"Robert, would you mind putting on--"
"Helmet?" "No."
"Yes." "No."
"No, put two dots here, and then you can paint it in later."
-[Letterman] Do this from your house. -Yeah.
Now, did I ask you about comics when you were a kid?
Superhero, Marvel kind of comics when you were a kid?
All comics.
Archie Comics, Sgt. Rock, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men.
-All that stuff. -So all of--
None of this was new territory for you.
Not really, I mean…
I mean, the genre had already been kicked off
a couple times, you know?
It seemed like it was a genre that wanted to have more legs--
You changed it, you…
Um, you humanized it in a very entertaining fashion.
Okay.
Don't you think? Now…
[cheering, clapping]
So, here's what I was talking about earlier.
At the end of the first one…
uh, you changed the script at the press conference.
Have I got this correct?
Jon and I changed the script every 45 seconds.
-Jon Favreau? -Yes.
And I knew we're gonna try, "I am Iron Man."
We knew we didn't want to have it be a "secret identity."
And, at this point, your--
Anyone's guess is as good as mine to really whose idea it was.
I'll say it was Jon's so I don't have to get a phone call later.
Yeah. It's a pretty good story.
I'm telling people that it was you,
because the way it looks
is we have a two, three hundred-million-dollar production,
and it's going one way, and you say, "You know, we're going this way."
And I love that.
And, so, even if it's close to being true, nice going.
Yeah.
[clapping]
So, are you working on a movie now? Is there another movie?
Are you gonna be in the Marvel comic things anymore?
-Is that part of your life closed? -No, I kind of--
-Will you go somewhere else? -I feel I'm done with that.
Can you make a certain kind of movie,
a well-written tightly scripted,
nicely directed, simple film for a million?
Could you do that today?
-Five hundred thousand? -A million's tough. Uh…
[Letterman] Well, no, not with you in it. No.
That's my dry-cleaning budget.
-[chuckling] -No, um…
The truth be told is, nowadays, more than ever,
you can do any project for any budget.
-But it better be great. -Yeah.
Because, nowadays, what I'm, you know, drawn to is,
"Wow, that's a really cool new take on this,"
or, "I-- That gal is a fantastic director. I can't wait to see what she does next."
Are you working on a movie now? What will you do? I guess--
What will he do next?
Yeah, that's right. Here's the dumb guy question.
"Well, jeez, now that you're not Iron Man, what will you be?
I know. What are you supposed to do if you're not Iron Man anymore?
Um, you know, I ask myself that same question.
I'm on a bit of a forced rest,
and just kind of paying attention,
and trying to catch up with what everyone else is doing,
and, you know, like--
I mean, I suspect I could probably do damn near anything I wanted.
[Letterman] I know… [clears throat]
[chuckling]
[audience clapping, cheering]
Um, I also-- I watched a series, starring you and produced by you,
about artificial intelligence.
-Yes. -Now, this is under the foot…
-[sputters] The green footprint-- -Oh, the Footprint Coalition?
-The Footprint Coalition. -It was more--
I wrapped up the Marvel contract,
and I'd been kind of around versions of AI,
at least, you know, in my day job for over a decade.
And then YouTube had asked us
if we had an interest in developing this series, which we did.
And I found it just great because it was really educational for me.
Um, the Footprint Coalition is this whole other thing
that I'll spend a bunch of time on.
And what is the Footprint Coalition? That's more environmentally directed?
Yeah. Well, one part of it is a foundation
where you give grants to nonprofits that are doing eco-friendly stuff,
and then the part where I'll probably wind up spending the most time is--
There's a kind of a media company,
where I would want to interview people who are making inroads
for helping clean up the planet, and taking care of our environment.
What-- When you say taking--
Yeah.
[clapping, cheering]
Can you extend that applause indefinitely?
I think that's gonna help me with some of my investors.
Put a little AI into this.
-[chuckles] -Uh…
But I'm very pessimistic.
Uh, I believe that the…
Trying to stop what is-- Has-- Is too late to stop.
I believe it's adaptability, is the only hope we have. You?
Well, they say that the definition of an optimist
is someone who believes the future is uncertain.
-Hmm. Well, there you go. Yeah. -[chuckles]
And a pessimist is always right, but they derive no satisfaction.
So, adaptability for sure,
but also it is just as easy
to try to bring folks together and get in real conversations
about employing technology and AI in a way
that can have a quantum effect on this stuff.
But I think you're right. We have to become more adaptive,
and we also have to become more synergistic.
I talked to a friend of mine, a very good friend of mine,
a guy I've known for, like, 45 years.
Okay.
He's an actor, and he worked with you.
His name's Tim Thomerson.
Tim Thomerson, the insanely gifted comedian.
-Yeah. -I know him well.
I said, "Well, what was it like working with Robert Downey Jr.?"
-Here's what he said. -Okay.
"Good guy, easy to work with,
generous and funny."
"No bullshit actor crap."
[audience laughing, clapping]
[man whistling]
[Robert chuckling]
Ah!
Well, we've figured out my headstone, haven't we?
[Letterman chuckling]
-Again, thank you very much for your time. -Oh, dude, it's a pleasure.
And as a human being, I have great regard…
for your accomplishments as a human being.
Aw, man. Thank you.
Robert Downey Jr., ladies and gentlemen.
[cheering, clapping]
Yeah.
[Letterman] Thank you very much.
-Not bad, right? -[man] Yeah!
Yeah!
[theme music playing]