10 Actors Arrested Whilst Filming Movies

5. Robert Downey Jr

Original Hollywood bad-boy Robert Downey Jr was arrested for a number of things between the late 90s and the early 2000s, and a lot of those arrests were while he is in the middle of filming.

In 1996, the future Tony Stark was pulled over for speeding in Malibu and subsequently arrested when police found cocaine, heroin and a pistol in his vehicle. If that wasn't enough drama, he was also arrested again later the same day for trespassing and being under the influence of a controlled substance. At the time Downey Jr was working on two films, including Hugo Pool and was initially sentenced to parole, yet after repeatedly missing drug tests the court ordered, he was sentenced to six months.

Things didn't go swimmingly for the Sherlock Holmes star in prison either, as many prisoner-rights advocates protested against seemingly preferential treatment for the A-Lister. Some of the more beneficial things Downey Jr experienced included a personal visit with his own plastic surgeon after his face was wounded in a fight. He was also granted a three-day furlough to complete post-production on psychological thriller film In Dreams.

Once released, Downey Jr was again arrested another two times during production of the show Ally McBeal. His first arrest came in 2000,after which, somewhat surprisingly, the producer showed him public support and resigned him for more episodes. Sadly, their statement of support was in vain when his second arrest was issued in 2001 for suspicion of being under the influence of drugs.

Luckily for film-lovers Downey Jr cleaned up his act to become one of Hollywood's biggest success stories and in 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown granted the actor a full and unconditional pardon for his prior offences.