Robert Downey Jr pleased to be back on the up

HE was once the classic Hollywood bad boy, a truly gifted actor just as famous for his mug shots and court appearances, after a descent into drug abuse that very nearly killed him.

After hitting the depths of bad behaviour in 1997, when he was jailed after continuing to use drugs while on probation for drink-driving and heroin possession, few would have been surprised to see Robert Downey Jr wind up crashing or overdosing and dying on the street, just like River Phoenix had a just few years earlier.

Instead, the 43-year-old is a reformed character. He is married to film producer Susan Levin and he credits his wife for saving him from what looked like a certain early death.

"She is a great cheerleader for me," admits Downey Jr, whose new film Iron Man goes on release in the UK today. "I got the right girl.

"Of course, I am afraid of falling back into the clutches of substance abuse – everybody is – but my wife is there for me now," he continues.

"I'm not a poster boy for good behaviour and recovery in Hollywood – I'm just a guy who knows that he has a lot to be grateful for.

"Five or six years ago, I saw the writing on the wall. I knew that the party was over. It was time to come out of the Dark Ages and get real," he adds.

The actor previously dated big-name Hollywood stars like Sarah Jessica Parker and Marisa Tomei. He was also married to Deborah Falconer (with whom he has a 14-year-old son, Indio) from 1992 until 2004.

Downey Jr, whose breakthrough role saw him portray a drug-addicted rich boy in the big screen version of Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero, has admitted seducing many of his co-stars in the past, and claims that many Hollywood stars enjoy on-set romantic liaisons.

"I remember certain colleagues having a lot of fun with me on set in the past," he smiles. "Every second star goes to bed with his co-star because they spend so much time together. But I'm not going to start reeling off the names."

As well as kicking drink and drugs, the actor has also rehabbed his career; roles in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Good Night And Good Luck building on past glories like Wonder Boys and Chaplin (his take on the great entertainer earned him a deserved Oscar nomination).

Iron Man, co-starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges, is the latest of three dozen films Downey Jr has appeared in since making his debut as a puppy in Pound (1970).

Like previous superhero franchises Spider-Man, Batman and Superman, Iron Man is widely expected to be a huge hit at the box office.

"I went after Iron Man because Keanu Reeves got The Matrix, and Johnny Depp got Pirates," he says. "I'm looking at all these posters of the movies I've seen with my son, and I'm thinking, 'Damn, I could do that'. "

Downey Jr, who was "tired of working my butt off doing films nobody sees," didn't have to be asked twice about accepting the role.

"I'm not a kid anymore externally," he admits, "and if you're going to do something like this, then you want to do it while there's still a very low embarrassment factor age-wise."

Another factor in his decision was the chance to work with director Jon Favreau.

"That guy is a national treasure and to be able to do something like this with him, and maybe have the opportunity to do it a couple more times, then it's a no-brainer," he says.

And it's clear he had lots of fun in the role. "I loved playing Iron Man," laughs Downey Jr. "That suit fitted me like a gold titanium glove.

"It was a huge departure for me, but I hope we give the audience their money's worth."

• Iron Man opens in cinemas today


Favreau hits gold with his Iron Man

Iron Man (12A) ****
With great power comes great responsibility and an equally great temptation to abuse that power for significant personal and financial gain.

The tug-of-war between altruism and materialism is at the heart of Iron Man, Jon Favreau's marvellous nuts and bolts realisation of the red and gold armoured Marvel Comics superhero.

Following the lead of the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises, Favreau devotes the majority of the opening hour to the characters.

He fleshes out their personalities, insecurities and the underlying tensions (attraction, jealousy, irritation) which light the fuse on an action-oriented second half, awash with spectacular visual effects from the technical wizards at Industrial Light & Magic.

The central role of a billionaire industrialist, whose conscience is pricked after a brush with death, fits Robert Downey Jr like a titanium-plated glove.

He's charming and roguish yet reckless with other people's emotions, and he galvanizes a sizzling screen chemistry with Gwyneth Paltrow as the personal assistant who barely flutters an eyelash at the endlessly array of one-night stands who parade through her employer's cliff-side mansion.

Brilliant inventor and consummate playboy Tony Stark (Downey Jr) is held hostage in Afghanistan by insurgents under the command of Raza (Faran Tahir), who demands that he builds a devastating Jericho missile for use against American forces.

Instead, Tony and fellow prisoner of war Yinsen (Shaun Toub) use the time in captivity to fashion an ultra-strong suit of armour and orchestrate a daring escape.

Found wandering the desert by his good friend, Lieutenant Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes (Terrence Howard), Tony returns to America a changed man.

"I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to protect them," he tells a crowded press conference.

He then announces the immediate shutdown of the weapons manufacturing arm of Stark Industries, to the shock and surprise of right-hand man Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges).

Unfortunately, members of the board freeze out Tony and soon he is fighting for control of his own company, aided by his feisty assistant, Virginia "Pepper" Potts (Paltrow).

Iron Man is terrifically entertaining, fuelled by Favreau's kinetic direction, strong performances and some thrilling action sequences.

Downey Jr relishes the comic asides of his character before the transformation into his eponymous alter ego.

Repartee with Paltrow promises plenty of laughs, like when Pepper stumbles into the lab to find Tony's robots struggling to remove his armour.

"Let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing," he grins.

Bridges adds plenty of bombast but Howard is almost surplus to requirements.

Keep your eyes peeled for the obligatory cameo by Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, who Tony mistakes for Playboy legend Hugh Hefner.