Robert Downey Jr on Johnny Depp: “There’s nobody I admire more”
Having first risen to fame at around the same time and then experienced plenty of highs and lows along the way, it shouldn’t come as a shock to discover Robert Downey Jr has maintained close personal friendships with another 1980s heartthrob who eventually became a superstar.
As well as being the son of a filmmaker and making his on-screen debut as a child in Robert Downey Sr’s Pound at the age of five, the future Iron Man attended high school with Rob Lowe, Sean Penn, and Charlie Sheen, all of whom travelled in the same social circles. With that in mind, acting was clearly his destiny.
It took a long time to reach the top, though, with Downey Jr’s personal issues conspiring to repeatedly tarnish his reputation to the point where he couldn’t even get insured to play a supporting role. Of course, his ascension was ignited in the summer of 2008, and he’s been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood ever since he headlined the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s opening salvo.
Johnny Depp experienced a similar upswing at the start of his career when he gained widespread attention on 21 Jump Street before making a concerted effort to disavow becoming a movie star in favour of establishing himself as the eccentric and idiosyncratic darling of independent cinema.
Inevitably, their paths crossed repeatedly during their formative years in Hollywood, leading to Downey Jr outlining his admiration for his opposite number. “There’s nobody I admire more. We’ve known each other for a million years,” he said. “We climbed the ranks together.”
They never got around to sharing the screen together, although they did both become cultural and cinematic icons at roughly the same time. A few years after Depp landed his first-ever Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Actor’ in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Downey Jr’s Tony Stark also became one of pop culture’s most recognisable fictional creations overnight.
That irony wasn’t lost on Depp, especially when his buddy came to visit. In an interview with Radio Times, he shared how any interest his children had in Captain Jack Sparrow was completely overshadowed by the sight of Iron Man strolling into the living room.
“And you know, Bob Downey, who is an old friend, comes over to the house for dinner and Jack’s like, ‘Oh my God!’” he remarked. “So, then Captain Jack becomes secondary to Iron Man.” Having Jack Sparrow and Iron Man in the same room at the same time would blow any child’s mind, not that Depp’s son seemed particularly invested in his old man’s side-line in swashbuckling to begin with.
They’ve seen and done pretty much everything Tinseltown has to offer for better or worse, then, creating an unbreakable bond that’s carried their friendship along an often-tumultuous ride.
