Featured Image Credit: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images, Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images
Topics: Robert Downey Jr, Sex and Relationships
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Robert Downey Jr, Sex and Relationships
Robert Downey Jr. Is likely on top of the world after his Oscar win and his wife of 18 years has explained how they keep their marriage strong.
The star has had a good few days after having recently taking the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Oppenheimer.
You know, no big deal.
However, it hasn't always been this way for the Iron Man star as in the mid 90s to early 2000s, he was regularly on the wrong side of the law due to his drug addiction - even being sentenced to three-years in prison after missing a required drug test in 1999.
Advert
But he managed to turn his life around after undergoing treatment and his career began to flourish again as a result.
The actor praised his wife, Susan Downey, in his Oscar's acceptance speech for helping him in his recovery.
"She found me, a snarling rescue pet, and loved me back to life. That's why I am here. Thank you." he said.
The pair first met whilst making the 2003 film Gothika, later getting married in 2005. They also share two children, Exton, 12, and nine-year-old Avri.
So, how do they keep their marriage successful?
Well, Susan explained that the pair have a crucial rule - they do not go longer than two weeks without seeing each other.
“We do have a two-week rule, which often feels too long, but we don't go more than two weeks without seeing each other and the family being together,” Susan told PEOPLE.
“Fortunately, we prefer to be a traveling circus when we can be." she continued to say.
The couple try to stick with the 'basic rule' but sometimes life can be 'oddly unpredictable' so they don't think 'too far ahead'.
“Someone might get sick, or there might be a shutdown, or this or that.
"So you just have to have some basic things in place, and then you have to be willing to flow with the rest of it.” she added.
However, Downey Jr. is pleased he can see his family so often, joking: “It just gives me, honestly, something to attach my neurosis to that's positive.”
Susan also noted that she was fortunate that her job doesn’t as a producer doesn’t require her to be in front of the camera so she can be more flexible when it comes to seeing her family.
She added: “The good news is I'm not in front of the camera, and so as a producer I end up with a little bit more flexibility in terms of location, of where I would need to be.
“I really admire and have a lot of empathy for couples who both have to be in front of the camera, because you get stuck and you have to make those choices.”