The Sherlock Holmes actor recently won the Maltin Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where he spoke candidly with Leonard Maltin about his early career experiences.
“Well, I worked in a sandwich store. I worked in a shoe business, but I had sticky fingers and was dismissed after two weeks.”
“I wasn’t very good at it,” he joked.
The 58-year-old actor also revealed details of his brief retail employment at Thrifty’s and subsequently in the club, saying, “I made it to busboy, but I didn’t really have the panache to be a waiter” before finding his way to theatre.
With his father being a renowned film director (Robert Downey Sr.), Maltin asked if he owes his job success to ‘destiny’, to which Downey replied, “Yeah, I think this is what I was supposed to do.”
Robert Downey Jr. made his cinematic debut at the age of five in his father’s picture Pound (1979), and went on to become one of Hollywood’s most recognized performers.
Since then, he has appeared in a number of critically acclaimed films and received numerous distinctions, including the renowned Maltin Modern Master Award, which recognizes individuals who have made important contributions to the film industry.
