Robert Downey Jr. was born into the movie business and made his acting debut at the age of just five in his father’s film Pound all the way back in 1970, meaning that he’s already spent half a century in Hollywood. And while he might be considered one of the biggest stars in the industry thanks to his decade-long run as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Tony Stark, it took him a long time to reach the very top of the A-list.
He’s always been regarded as one of the finest talents of his generation when he’s at the top of his game, and many thought he was poised to fully capitalize on that undoubted potential after he picked up the first Academy Award nomination of his career for playing the title role in Chaplin when he was still in his 20s.
However, a series of drug-related arrests and stints in rehab saw both his star and reputation fade dramatically, and although he enjoyed a mini career resurgence thanks to a Golden Globe-winning stint on Ally McBeal, his demons continued to get the better of him. It was viewed as a hugely risky move on Marvel’s part when they cast him as the lead of their first in-house blockbuster, then, but in hindsight, it turned out to be one of the smartest decisions the studio will ever make.
After picking up a $500,000 paycheck for Iron Man, which meant he wasn’t even the highest-paid member of the cast, Robert Downey Jr.‘s salary steadily increased with each subsequent appearance in the MCU, culminating in him walking away from Avengers: Endgame with the tidy sum of $75 million. Dolittle may have bombed spectacularly at the box office, but thanks mostly to Tony Stark and a little help from Sherlock Holmes, the 55 year-old’s current personal net worth is now estimated to be a massive $300 million.