Jodie Foster recalls working with Robert Downey Jr. when he was in the depth of his addictions
Oppenheimer. Foster, 61, was nominated for her role in Nyad.The two actors have known each other for decades. Foster cast Downey in her second movie as director, 1995’s Home For the Holidays.At the time, Downey was in the depths of his much-documented addiction battles.
Despite scoring an Oscar nomination for his lead role in Chaplin in 1992, by the mid-90s Downey was considered unhireable by much of Hollywood because of his personal problems.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.Downey is the subject of a major profile in the latest issue of Esquire.
The magazine talked to Foster and asked her why she decided to take a risk on him at the time.“I took him aside at one point during filming and said, ‘Look, I couldn’t be more grateful for what you’ve given in this film,’” Foster recalled. “‘But I’m scared of what happens to you next.
Right now you are incredibly good at balancing on the barstool. But it’s really precarious, and I’m not sure how that’s going to end.’”Jodie Foster’s 1995 family dramedy is the rare Thanksgiving-centric holiday movie.Pressed on why she believed in working with Downey, she said, “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.“He was so out there that all of that wonderful talent was kind of just, like, flailing his arms in the water and making a big mess.
