For Foster “Holidays at home” were the director's second project in his life. Filming began in 1995. Downey Jr. He was struggling with addiction at the time.
At one point, Foster allegedly told him: “Look, I can't thank you enough for what you brought to the film. I'm just afraid of what will happen to you after (shooting ends). You're incredibly good at balancing that tightrope right now. However, all this is uncertain and we do not know how it will end”.
The two-time Oscar winner recalled this moment during a conversation with “Esquire”. “What interested me was what a genius (Downey Jr.) was. He had more creativity in a small square then than I will have in my entire life. But he had no discipline” – said Foster.
“He was so absent that all his talent slipped through his fingers and it turned out to be a big mess. Nevertheless, (the talent) was there somewhere. After all, now he is someone so disciplined, as if his survival depended on it” – she continued. “I believe people can change if they want to, and he really wanted to”.
“Holidays at home” hit theaters in November 1995. At the same time, Downey was arrested by police for possession of drugs and an unloaded gun. In 1997, he was sentenced to four months in prison for failing to take a test for prohibited substances. In 1999, for the same reason, he received a three-year prison sentence – he ultimately spent 15 months there. In the following years, he was detained and arrested again due to his addiction. This cost him, among other things, a role in the series “Ally McBeal”.
Downey Jr. he decided to quit the addiction in 2001, when he was at rock bottom. He was helped to return to acting by Mel Gibson, who agreed to pay for the actor's insurance for the film “The singing detective” from 2003. The breakthrough was the role of Iron Man in the adaptation of Marvel comics. Thanks to her, Downey Jr. he became one of the highest paid and most popular actors in the world. The culmination of his path was an Oscar for his supporting performance in “Oppenheimer” Christopher Nolan.