15 Things You Didn't Know About Robert Downey Jr

14. He Started Smoking Marijuana At Age 6

Downey's battle with drugs has become a defining part of his life in Showbizness, but his first encounter with them wasn't as you might expect. Far from being coerced into trying something in some low-rent Hollywood party or doing it to fit in with his new arty actor buddies, it was actually his dad who gave him his first experience... at the age of 6! Robert Downey Snr, an underground filmmaker in the late 60s and 70s didn't just give his son his own name, but on the set of the movie Pound he also gave him his first taste of a marijuana. While it would be some years later before this flirtation turned into casual use, the actor still cites this moment as the one that sparked his obsession with substances. The set of this film also marked his first foray into acting, as he had been given a voiceover role by his father. Given how his career and life turned out afterwards it's a little more notable for the introduction to weed.
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WhatCulture's Managing Editor and Chief Reporter | Previously seen in Vice, Esquire, FourFourTwo, Sabotage Times, Loaded, The Set Pieces, and Mundial Magazine