Robert Downey Jr. says he could 'feel the evil in the air' during his year in jail

Robert Downey Jr. has opened up about his time in prison saying that he could ‘feel the evil in the air’.

The 58-year-old Hollywood star spent time behind bars during the 1990s following a lengthy battle with drug addiction.

Speaking to a judge about his troubles with addiction in 1999, Downey Jr. said: "It's like I have a shotgun in my mouth, and I've got my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gun metal."

During a recent interview on the Armchair Expert podcast, the actor spoke about his time inside.

Talking about his sentencing, he said: "I'm going to try to give you the flashcards: I'm in court, I'm being over-sentenced by an angry judge, and at some point he said something in Latin. I thought he was casting a spell on me."

Downey Jr. continued: “Two weeks later, I'm in a place called Delano, which is a receiving centre where they decide where you're going to go.

California Department of Corrections

"Arguably the most dangerous place I've ever been in my life because nobody is designated. If they're a level 1, 2, 3 or 4 criminal, [everyone's there].

"You could just feel the evil in the air.

"It was kind of like just being in a really bad neighbourhood, and there was no opportunity there; there was only threats.

"So, yes, everyone is going to take your wallet, so watch it."

Downey Jr. went on to compare his first time on the exercise yard to being on an alien planet.

"Walking onto the yard that you're gonna be doing more than a year on for the first time, the closest thing I can associate it to is being sent to a distant planet where there is no way home until the planets align," he added.

Marvel Studios

Thankfully, after being released Downey Jr. managed to kick his addictions and carve out an impressive career for himself - thanks, in part, to this role as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Producer and former Marvel Studio’s boss David Maisel recently told Variety that the board thought he was ‘crazy’ when he signed Downey Jr. for the role.

He said: “My board thought I was crazy to put the future of the company in the hands of an addict.

“I helped them understand how great he was for the role. We all had confidence that he was clean and would stay clean.”