It is common for fathers to want to pass down knowledge to their sons, but Robert Downey Jr. has to live with the knowledge he passed a crippling trait to his son.
The 49-year-old Hollywood heavyweight has opened up to Vanity Fair about his own drug issues and now his oldest Indio’s struggles with the same addiction.
Sitting down for the magazine’s October edition a very wordy Robert explained how he had inherited his issues from his father and his son Indio, 20, who was arrested in June on Felony Drug Possession, had also taken the same path.
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Like father, like son: Robert Downey Jr, seen here in May, has opened up to Vanity Fair about his own drug issues and now his oldest Indio’s struggles with the same addiction
The Iron Man actor said: ‘He’s his mother [musician Deborah Falconer]’s son and my son, and he’s come up the chasm much quicker than we did.
‘But that’s typical in the Information Age; things get accelerated. You’re confronted with histories and predispositions and influences and feelings and unspoken traumas or needs that weren’t met, and all of a sudden you’re three miles into the woods. Can you help someone get out of those woods? Yes, you can. By not getting lost looking for them.’
Being slightly more straight up he continued: ‘Pick a dysfunction and it’s a family problem.’
As for his own drug use – the actor started doing drugs first with his director father at a young age – the actor now looks back at his journey and seems bewildered about how he went from star to inmate to star again.
Speaking on his time at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison he said: ‘Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but don’t change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal.
‘But I don’t even know if that was my experience. It’s funny: five years ago, I would’ve made it sound like I’m conscious of my own participation in seizing the similarities. But so many things have become less certain. I swear to God. I am not my story.’
Now the father of two – he has a two-year-old Exton – is adding to his family once more with wife Susan due to give birth to a baby girl in November.
No doubt conscious of not repeating the same mistakes he made with his youngest children, the star reveals the only addiction he has now is collecting cars.
But there is about to be a new car taking pride of place next to his Bentley, Porsche, Corvette, and Audis – a Honda Odyssey.
The father-to-be said: ‘If I’m gonna have two of ’em in car seats then I gotta be ready.’
