Robert Downey Jr., as well you know, has been in and out of prison thanks to his unending appetite to have a real fun time, regardless of the law. He’s pretty clean these days (at least, we think he is), so prison probably changed him, right?
WRONG!
Downey Jr. insists that prison didn’t change him at all and in fact, has gone so far as to suggest that being in the clink is pretty much like being on a film set. What? Full of rapists, drug dealers and people with foreign objects inserted into their anus?
The ‘Iron Man’ star (we were originally going to make a reference to that rubbish Elton John video he did, but decided it would look like we were trying too hard) who was jailed twice for drugs offences in the ’90s is surprised that his rather full-on party lifestyle didn’t get him into bother sooner and it has taken him until now to believe his punishment had consequences for how his life turned out.
He says:
“I do think there’s something divine about large-scale humiliation, but no, it never worked for me. It never produced enough of a blow back for me to catch the drift. It doesn’t so much produce results as just get your attention – you become a fish in a barrel and there’s really something quite beautiful about that.
“Jail didn’t help me any more or less than anything else. But I know I created that experience for a reason, and I’m only just starting to understand those reasons. Remember this is California, ‘Come on vacation, leave on probation.’ I mean, I can’t believe I stayed out of the pen for as long as I did.”
So what’s all this about being on a film-set?
“Listen, a prison is just like a public school. Did you ever go on a film set on location? It’s just like prison. Have you ever been in a bad relationship? It’s just like having a cellmate who wants to kill you. Have you ever been in a street fight? It’s just like chow-time meal time. Have you ever been to a rave-up? It’s like a yard riot.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, but it neither fazed me, nor changed me, nor informed me – but maybe it toughened me up a little bit.”
So there you have it. Prison – it’s just like working with Robert Downey Jr.