Robert Downey Jr. is perhaps one of the most well-recognized and ubiquitously celebrated actors of our generation. And if not for his larger-than-life personality combined with the inimitable weirdness of his being, and the career-ending (if not life-threatening) addiction that he spiraled into and later overcame, Downey Jr. would probably be just another great actor this era has been blessed with. But RDJ is beyond that and he brings so much more to the table that his name itself has somewhat become an honorary brand in Hollywood.
And behind RDJ growing into his full potential and becoming who he is today lies the partnership (in life and work) of the woman who met him at the most defining moment of his life.
Robert Downey Jr. Finds His Life Partner in Susan Levin
In the early 2000s, Robert Downey Jr. was still finding himself digging a way back into the Hollywood mainstream after his unceremonious exit in the late 90s. Films like Gothika, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Zodiac, and Tropic Thunder were slowly but cautiously placing him back on the map among the A-listers. And it was on the sets of the 2003 psychological horror-thriller that RDJ ended up meeting the person who would stand firmly by his side and watch his incredible rise in Hollywood in the decade to come.
The actor later told in a 2009 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, “Whatever I was hungry for when I met Susan, I couldn’t have known how much more satisfying what I got would be.” His wife, on the other hand, held a vastly different opinion of him:
“I thought he was a brilliant actor, but it didn’t go beyond that. I saw him more like a professor or someone’s older brother. He’s this incredible amalgam of contradictory traits that is never boring. He’s completely eccentric but grounded. He’s someone who has lived so much life yet has almost a Peter Pan kind of never-grow-up quality.”
Susan Downey (née Levin) served as a producer on Gothika in which Robert Downey Jr. starred opposite Halle Berry. Downey, who had still been battling addiction and was on the road to sobriety, found himself getting mighty fascinated by the idea of getting down on one knee. Months after the filming was done, the pair became official. 21 months later, they were married.
The Incredible Romance of RDJ & Susan Downey
At first recollection, perhaps it was not the best of impressions, although it may definitely have been a memorable one. In a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Susan Downey claims what her first thought was upon meeting the star of the 2003 film, Gothika:
“We were up in Montreal prepping for Gothika, and we had lunch with the director and Halle Berry. Everybody else ordered Japanese, but Robert told us how oatmeal was the ‘superfood.’ He brought his own packets of oatmeal to have at lunch. And he had this box of various herbs and stuff. And then he started doing these yoga moves. I mean, he was interesting but weird.”
A few months after the film’s premiere, the pair were already walking the red carpet together in October 2003. In November, they were engaged. In 2004, during an appearance on Oprah, the producer, and her then-fiance recalled how he finally got around to asking the question:
“It was her birthday and I wanted to get her before she turned 30, so I waited right before midnight, and I got her a bunch of stuff and then there was a ring. And she opened that, and I said … What did I say?”
To this, Susan Downey replied, “‘I was wondering if, maybe, you’d wanna, like, be my wife one day.’” 18 years later, the pair is one of the most loving and endearing power couples in Hollywood who now not only have their own production company but always make sure to be present by each other’s side to celebrate every accomplishment, however big or small.
Source: The Oprah Winfrey Show
