Jodie Foster has stated that she confronted Robert Downey Jr. about his problems in 1995.
In a recent interview with Esquire magazine, the actress and director discussed the uncomfortable subject.
Jodie, 61, directed Robert, 59, in 1995’s Home for the Holidays.
After noticing his substance addiction issues, she has reported taking him aside during production.
“(I responded,) ‘Look, I couldn’t be more appreciative for what you’ve done in this film. But I’m afraid of what will happen to you next. You are now quite excellent at balancing on the barstool. But it’s very precarious, and I’m not sure how it will finish,” she recounted.
Jodie added that she had a feeling Robert had the ability to get his life back on track.
“I have faith in people’s ability to change if they want it, and he really wanted it,” she told me.
She noted that Robert’s previous lack of discipline was preventing him from reaching the heights she believed he was capable of.
“What was so interesting about him then was what a genius he was – there was more creativity in his little finger than I will ever have in my whole life – but he did not have the discipline,” laughed Jodie.
“He was so out there that all of his amazing talent was just flailing his arms in the water and making a tremendous mess. But that was in there someplace, right? Because now he has been disciplined virtually as a means of survival.”
Downey, Jr. has been sober since the early 2000s.
