Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr has opened up about his relationship with his father – including how he gave him drugs for the first time when he was just six years old.
The Iron Man star talks candidly about his dad Robert Downey Sr in his new Netflix documentary that provides a rare insight into their lives together.
Sr. sees Robert, 57, sharing memories and chatting to his dad during the final months of his life as he struggles with the effects of advanced Parkinson’s disease.
READ MORE: Robert Downey Jr’s wild life – historic drug battles, tragic loss and transformation
The show – which Robert co-produced with his wife Susan – looks at the often turbulent relationship the two men shared and the part that drugs played in it.
(Image: Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Robert Sr passed away in July 2021 at the age of 85 after a lengthy battle with the life-altering debilitating neurological disease Parkinson’s.
In the programme Robert Jr also discusses how he became an addict at the age of eight – two years after his father gave him cannabis for the first time when he was six years old.
Talking in the documentary he says: “I think we would be remiss not to discuss its effect on me,” with his father adding: “Boy, I would sure love to miss that discussion.”
(Image: Getty Images)
A clip from an old interview then sees Robert Sr address the subject further as he notes: “A lot of us thought it would be hypocritical not to have our kids participate in marijuana and stuff like that. It was an idiot move on our parts to share that with our children. I’m just happy he’s here.”
The paternal figure also discusses how he worried “many times” that Robert Jr wouldn’t survive his addiction problems after he progressed from marijuana usage to harder drugs.
Robert Jr described his Class A addiction as being “like having a shotgun in my mouth, and I’ve got my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gun metal”.
The award-winning star also found himself on the wrong side of the law during his addiction, spending time in and out of prison.
(Image: Getty Images)
He previously explained how doing drugs with his dad helped them bond and that he felt it was “the only way” his father knew of showing love to him.
He said: “When my dad and I would do drugs together, it was like him trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew.”
Robert Jr finally got sober when he met his now wife back in 2003 and she gave him the ultimatum that she would only marry him if he could promise her he would stay sober for life. The couple tied the knot in 2005.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
