Robert Downey Jr. comes clean

Oops! Somebody did it again – mention the "P" word on camera, that is.

This time, it was Robert Downey Jr., star (with Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz) of the thriller Gothika (currently showing in Metro Manila theaters), who casually dropped that "unmentionable" during a seven-minute TV interview at a function room of L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills. Of course, that portion was "censored" by ABS-CBN when the interview was aired last Sunday on The Buzz.

When I interview actors and actresses, whether local or international, I always ask them one of my favorite questions – Besides good looks and talent, what are you most proud about yourself? (Or, which part of your body do you find sexy?)

Will Smith was brutally frank with his answer during a TV one-on-one in Miami in June last year (for Bad Boys 2, in which he costars with Martin Lawrence). Smith’s eyes widened as he answered, "Which part of my body do I find sexy? Yes, my p____!" The whole room burst into uncontrolled laughter, led by Smith himself.

Downey’s answer drew a similar reaction from those present at the Gothika interview, prompting Downey to quip, "It’s a work of art! It’s getting beautiful everyday!"

Like Smith, Downey did "apologize" ("Sorry, I was just kidding!") when he saw me the next day for the round-table print interview. I told him, "It’s okay. I got the joke!"

The "joke" was, of course, lost on the other "international journalists" in the function room, eager as they (we!) all were to "grill" Downey who breezed into the room with a wide smile, waving at everybody.

I expected him to glide in like Charlie Chaplin whom he portrayed with memorable brilliance in Richard Attenborough’s Chaplin for which Downey got Best Actor nominations from the Oscar, Golden Globe and the British Academy Awards. I imagined him showing up in a Chaplin attire, complete with a cane. Instead, Downey came in slacks (or was it a pair of jogging pants?) and T-shirt, his hair uncombed, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, looking as if he jumped out of bed and rushed straight to the interview.

Don’t get me wrong. The guy was very nice, engaging the interviewers in a lively no-holds-barred conversation covering his career, his bout with drugs and alcohol and his successful comeback.

The whole world knows that Downey, 38, had his first taste of drugs at age 8 when he got a joint from his father, filmmaker Robert Downey. To make a long story short, Downey (Jr.) got hooked, until he was arrested in 1996 for drug possession and carrying an unloaded firearm. He continued working while going in and out of rehab and prison, his last confinement having been two years ago.

"I’m clean now," he confessed at the round-table interview.

Downey began his acting career also early. At 5, he starred as a puppy in Pound, directed by his father, and then at 7 in Greaser’s Palace, also by his father. Between then and now, Downey has chalked up more than two dozen films, notable of which (besides Chaplin) are Two Girls and a Guy, Natural Born Killers, Chances Are and Johnny Be Good.

In Gothika, Downey plays a psychologist at a penitentiary for women, with Penelope Cruz as an inmate and Halle Berry as Downey’s fellow psychologist who ends up an inmate herself when she’s accused of killing her husband (Charles S. Dutton, as the chief administrator of the ward) How? Find out for yourself.

Downey has a 10-year-old son, Indio, by his estranged wife Deborah Falconer (they separated in 1996 after his first arrest) and is now going steady with Susan Levin, a producer whom he met while doing Gothika.

Here are excerpts from our Conversation:

What makes your role as a psychologist different from your previous roles?

"Well, it was very challenging for me to play a psychologist and I thank Mathieu (Kassovitz, the director) for being so terrific. We worked together very well, just as we did working with Halle, Penelope and the rest of the cast. Mathieu helped me make Pete, my character, effortless. It wasn’t easy but it was effortless. Right before we started shooting, I had this more conservative look and Mathieu walked over, messed up my hair, took off his T-shirt and put it on me and said, ‘Pete’s gotta be more cool.’ That comforted me because often I’m ready to be more conservative or unlike myself in a role. But Mathieu didn’t want that. He said, ‘Pete should be more like you.’ And that was it."

It’s exhausting watching Gothika because of all the screaming (mostly by Halle) and the running (also by Halle).

"Did you go to the press screening last night?"

Oh, yes, I did!

"Did you sleep okay after watching it?"

I must say I was a bit "disturbed."

"Aha, I told you it’s disturbing!"

Could you tell me a bit more about working with Halle Berry?

"It was really enjoyable. I’ve admired Halle Berry for quite sometime. We’ve been wanting to work together but we never got the chance to, until Gothika came."

She said you broke her arm during a shoot. How did you do it?

"The scene called for a struggle and I’m sorry that Halle got hurt in the process. You see, Halle is such a strong woman and we were struggling, with me trying to pin her down on the bed. During the earlier shoot, she had been beating me and other actors playing orderlies. Anyway, as we struggled, I tried to restrain her and she kept on resisting, fighting me off. That’s when I felt her arm break. Sorry for that, again, Halle!"

Halle had to beg off from shooting for a month, with her arm in a cast.

(Laughing) "I was so glad that I was sober when that accident happened. Otherwise, everything would have been blamed on me, everything would have been my fault. It was an accident. Everything on the set was just so tense and it had to happen."

Come to think of it, what would you consider your best performance so far? Could it be Chaplin?

"Chaplin, definitely. In my 30s it was Chaplin. But among my recent works, it’s The Singing Detective."

You play a psychiatric patient in The Singing Detective, a role that, I should say – and pardon me for saying so – comes quite close to home.

"Oh, yes, it does. I agree with you."

The whole world knows that you’ve spent time in institutions. How much of your true experience influenced your portrayal in both Gothika and The Singing Detective?

"A lot. I must say, a lot. When I portray a role, I always draw from my experiences. But I also do believe in method acting. You know, you don’t have to injure yourself to act injured in a movie. You just have to use some imagination in addition to drawing from your own experiences."

Any other preparations for your Gothika role?

"I went to some colleges and spent some time with the doctors there. I also visited some institutions and I was allowed to observe people who were mentally unstable."

I understand you’ve been sober for more than two years now.

"I still do make mistakes but I just have to be mindful."

How do you feel when you look back at your, well, troubled past?

"When I look back at it, I’m glad I appeared as I was – that I was in huge trouble. Because if I tried to keep it all under wraps, I probably wouldn’t have gotten as much help as I did."

Did having a girlfriend help in your recovery?

"Oh, yes, it did. I must say, a lot. Love is a great therapy. If I’d just gotten into recovery and become a total recovery robot and not have a girlfriend for five years, I would have been happy, all right, but things wouldn’t feel just right."

What scared you the most?

"You know, I believe that once your brain is no longer hijacked by these substances and you have enough time away from them, you realize that it’s kind of like, you know, what they call battle fatigue. I don’t ever want to get into that situation again, you know, because when you’re in that situation you realize that you’re not yourself, that you’re not in the best position to help yourself."

What’s the best lesson that you learned from the experience?

"To move on, of course. You have to be realistic and make up your mind – you know, tell yourself to mend your ways. Don’t get tied down to the past or being trapped in what you might call ‘toxic guilt.’ Move on, move on! I think ego is necessary for us to have some self-confidence. But after a point, you know, you just have to be humble."

Let’s end this brief conversation on a lighter note. Besides good looks and talent, what are you most proud of about yourself?

(Poker-faced) "Probably my p____. It’s a work of art. It becomes more beautiful to watch every year!"

You’ve got sense of humor. Best proof that you are, indeed, sober.

"You think so?"

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