Robert Downey Jr has said he doesn’t like to focus on past mistakes.
The actor posed for the cover of GQ Style’s summer issue in some stylish looks as he opened up about his marriage and long career.
But when asked about the last time he’d failed, the Iron Man star said he didn’t like to look at disappointments as failures, but instead as opportunities to stay humble and do better.
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Leap of faith: Actor Robert Downey Jr looked sharp in a blue Boss suit and showed off his Exton tattoo in honor of his four-year-old son as he posed for GQ Style’s Summer issue
Robert went barefoot in a light blue Boss suit as he showed off his ‘Exton’ tattoo in honor of his four-year-old son in the men’s fashion bible.
Asked to name the last time he’d failed at something, the 51-year-old joked that he’d couldn’t get Exton to sleep and was up until 3am.
‘But as far as straight-up failure, I don’t want to talk about failure,’ the Captain America: Civil War star said.
‘I want to talk about moments of humility.
‘Like when you feel suddenly sick and embarrassed but then you have to continue on to the next moment immediately in full view of others.
‘Because it’s not failure if you just recognize, I fell short, and that’s okay,’ he said.
Star power: The 52-year-old told the men’s fashion bible that he doesn’t like to dwell on failures, but tries to think of them as a way to stay humble and do better in the future
Robert famously struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for years, and spent more than a year in jail in 1999 for a parole violation related to a felony drug conviction, after cops pulled him over for speeding and found heroin, cocaine and a gun in his car.
However, he got sober with the help of wife Susan Downey, turned his life around and is now the highest-paid actor in Hollywood thanks to the Iron Man blockbusters.
Inย December, California Governor Jerry Brown pardoned the actor’s felony conviction for drug possession.
And Robert told GQ Style that he and his producer wife – who he called his best friend – go to couples therapy to keep their relationship on track.
‘It’s like housekeeping,’ Robert explained.
‘You know what I mean? And it’s so much better to have housekeeping come in, just changing the sheets a couple times a week. Not when Ron Wood has just trashed it.
‘So I think half the job is communicating to the point where what you’re really doing is team-building and conflict resolution and all that stuff,’ he said.
‘And then there’s times where, like, maybe we’ll have an appointment, Susan says, ‘I’m fine. You need to talk to them about this, that, and this.’ I’ll be like, ‘Okay, yeah, that’s good, too.”
The pair wed in 2005, and are parents to son Exton and one-year-old daughter Avri.
Robert also has a 22-year-old son, Indio, from his previous marriage to Deborah Falconer. Musician Indio has also struggled with addiction and had a cocaine possession charge dismissed in March.
