DOWNEY INSISTS HE'S RIDING LIFE'S NATURAL HIGHS

Sobriety Has Helped Robert Downey Jr. Find Hidden Talents

'I'm a Born Soccer Mom,' Declares the 38-Year-Old Actor

LOS ANGELES - Robert Downey Jr. wasn't the least bit surprised to be
involved in a freak accident on the set of his new movie Gothika, which left
co-star Halle Berry sidelined for nearly four weeks with a broken arm.

'I am always ready to accept guilt and blame for anything that happens
within 50 feet of me,' the embattled actor admits with a laugh, during an
afternoon chat at the trendy L'Ermitage Hotel. 'I am just so glad that I was
sober when it happened or everything on Earth would be my fault.'

Actually, Downey has been free of drugs and alcohol for more than two years
The Golden Globe-winning star of Ally McBeal, Wonder Boys and Chaplin seems
to have finally controlled a substance abuse problem that became widely
publicized when he was first arrested in August, 1996 for drunk driving and
possession of firearms and crack cocaine.

Downey received a warm 'welcome back' type reception from audiences when The
Singing Detective screened at this year's Toronto International Film
Festival.

He still smokes cigarettes and pops Advil to help with occasional headaches,
but today Downey insists his natural high comes from acting, martial arts
and spending time with son Indio, 10 (from a marriage to actress Deborah
Falconer that ended in 1996).

Downey, 38, is also in love again, becoming engaged earlier this month to
Gothika producer Susan Levin.

'Female producers, for the most part, are not crazy,' he jokes, admitting
the relationship sparked had an immediate effect on his on-set behaviour: 'I
didn't nail any of the actresses this time.'

The couple met last year on the set of Gothika, a dramatic thriller in which
Berry stars as a female psychiatrist who wakes up in the very facility she
works in, accused of a murder she has no memory of committing.

Downey, who appears in the film as a hospital co-worker, knows all too well
what it is like to be locked up against one's will.

He spent much of the past seven years in a variety of prisons and
rehabilitation centres - which eventually took a toll on his marriage, his
career and his relationship with his son.

'Once I finally got committed (to sobriety) I discovered all kinds of hidden
talents,' the actor recently told the Detroit Free Press. 'I'm a born soccer
mom. We drive to Indio's games singing Clancy Brothers songs, and I can
actually get the order right at the In-N-Out Burger.'

Downey has said it was his father, avant-garde filmmaker Robert Downey, Sr.
(Putney Swope), who introduced him to marijuana at age 8.

The 5-foot-9 actor was born in Greenwich Village and raised there with older
sister Alison until his parents divorced in 1978. He moved to Los Angeles to
live with his father on the city's affluent west side. He attended Santa
Monica High School -- other famous alums include Emilio Estevez, Charlie
Sheen and Carson Daly - but dropped out at 16 to pursue acting, and moved
back to New York to live with his mother, Elise, and later, actress Sarah
Jessica Parker.

Before landing a one-season stint on Saturday Night Live in 1985, Downey
supported himself busing tables at Manhattan's Cedar Falls Restaurant and
performing as 'living art' at the underground nightclub Area.

His first leading role came in 1987's The Pick-Up Artist with Molly
Ringwald. But Downey may best be remembered for his portrayal of teen drug
addict Julian Wells in Less Than Zero. By the time that film was completed,
Downey had developed a substance abuse problem of his own.

Today, he has just one piece of advice for others who find themselves
struggling with drugs and alcohol: 'Don't try to hide it.' Not that Downey
ever has. But going forward, he says, there will be no more discussion about
the demons he has battled.

'I'm done with talking about it after Gothika,' he says. 'Unless you see me
running down Melrose Ave., naked with a bottle in my hand or I get arrested
again on narcotics charges, there's nothing left for us to discuss.'

Instead, Downey plans to focus on his many upcoming projects, including the
new Steven Soderbergh drama Eros, currently in post-production.

He also has big plans for the upcoming holidays. 'I want to go hang out with
Woody Harrelson at Christmastime in Maui, he says, assuring there is no
danger of falling off the wagon in the company of Hollywood's biggest
marijuana proponent.

'He is actually a very, very organic and safe person to hang out with.'