The actor Robert Downey Jr instantly hated: “He took one look at me and wanted to kill me”
Having completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in Hollywood history, Robert Downey Jr has done an incredible job of permanently consigning his demons to the rear-view mirror.
Telling somebody in the early 2000s that the actor would end the decade as one of the biggest and highest-paid stars in the business would have drawn looks of serious incredulity after Downey began the millennium at such a low ebb that he couldn’t even accept roles because he was deemed uninsurable.
It was his close friend Mel Gibson who toppled the first domino by backing Downey on The Singing Detective before the awful psychological horror Gothika knocked over several more. An industry pariah and a crap genre flick don’t jump out as the two key factors in a staggering renaissance, but that’s how it happened.
The one-season Saturday Night Live veteran, A-list superhero, and Academy Award winner hasn’t looked back, and he’s even addressed some prior transgressions. Anthony Hoffman’s period drama Restoration was filmed throughout 1995, and it was one of those periods in Downey’s life when things weren’t going swimmingly.
His substance abuse issues hadn’t yet hit the headlines, but they were nonetheless having an effect. Less than six months after Restoration hit cinemas in the United States, he was arrested for possession of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, and an unloaded pistol while breaking the speed limit in Los Angeles.
Although his drug problems weren’t widely publicised, based on the timeline, Downey would have been struggling while the film was in production. The star-studded cast also featured Sam Neill, David Thewlis, Meg Ryan, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Grant, the latter of whom admitted he didn’t see eye-to-eye with the leading man.
“He hated me,” Grant told People. “He took one look at me and wanted to kill me.” Restoration was one of Grant’s first jobs after Four Weddings and a Funeral, so despite being the seventh-billed name in the ensemble, he was a star firmly on the rise. For whatever reason, Downey took an instant dislike to the rom-com favourite, and almost 30 years later, he finally cleared the air.
“A lot has happened over two decades,” Downey wrote on social media after catching wind of Grant sharing their immediate animosity. “I respect how Mr Grant has matured as an artist and voice against violations of privacy. Let’s break bread together soon.” It wasn’t quite an apology in the conventional sense, but at least it was water under the bridge.
The mystery remains as to why Downey hated Grant at first sight, although the latter does have a reputation for being difficult on occasion, which may not have been an easy thing to contend with when Downey had his own issues to contend with off-camera.
