Jodie Foster Recalls Telling Robert Downey Jr. She Was ‘Scared’ During Peak Of His Addiction

Downey was famously arrested on drug and weapon charges in 1996 and was sentenced to three years in prison in 1999 for violating his parole.

Jodie Foster still remembers working with Robert Downey Jr. at the height of his addictions.

The Oscar winner happily directed Downey in “Home for the Holidays” (1995), but had to have an honest chat about his substance abuse while filming at the time. Downey landed drug and weapons charges in 1996 — and was sentenced to three years in 1999.

“I took him aside at one point during filming and said, ‘Look, I couldn’t be more grateful for what you’ve given in this film,’” Foster told Esquire for an in-depth profile on Downey published Monday. “‘But I’m scared of what happens to you next.’”

“‘Right now you are incredibly good at balancing on the barstool,’” she purportedly continued telling Downey during production. “‘But it’s really precarious, and I’m not sure how that’s going to end.’”

Downey shared his own version of events in 2020 and told David Letterman that Foster “was really critical” during production and told him: “Well, looks like you’re getting away with it on this one! I wouldn’t try this again, because we’re kind of a forgiving group.”