He’s an Oscar-winning actor who made his acting debut aged just 5 (and there’s a Sex and the City connection!) Can you guess who he is?

This adorable youngster has lived a rollercoaster life in Hollywood and has become one of the most in-demand stars.

Born in New York City to a famous filmmaker father and actress mother, the future star would make his film debut at just five years old in a 1970 film.

Due to his natural ability, he joined popular teen actors known as the Brat Pack and appeared in the films Weird Science (1985) and Less than Zero (1987).

A BAFTA win would follow in 1992 for his performance in a biopic before drug addiction threatened to derail his career forever – amid his romance with a future Sex and the City star.

His fortunes turned around with his starring role as a superhero in 2008, with the star finally winning an Oscar this year for an acclaimed historical drama.

So can you guess who he is?

It’s Robert Downey Jr.! The star – now 59 – won his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Admiral Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.

This marked his third nomination – after nods for the Charlie Chaplin biopic Chaplin and Tropic Thunder.

The star was born the son of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. and actress Elsie Ann.

He has previously said that he was “surrounded by drugs” at a young age because his father was an addict and his mother an alcoholic.

Robert Downey Sr. said he first let his son try marijuana at age 6 and that he “might have had a little Coke” as a kid.

RDJ has said, “When my father and I used drugs together, it was as if he was trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how.”

He had a small acting role in the 1970 film Pound, written by his father.

He started working in theater as a teenager – and in 1984 he landed a role in the film Firstborn, where he met future Carrie Bradshaw star Sarah Jessica Parker, and the pair began what would become a seven-year romance.

In 1985, he was part of the new, younger cast hired for Saturday Night Live, but most of the new crew was cut and replaced after a year of poor ratings.

That year he starred as James Spader’s sidekick in Tuff Turf and then as a bully in John Hughes’s Weird Science.

It’s Robert Downey Jr.! The star – now 59 – won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2024 for his role as Admiral Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer

The star appears in his film debut in 1970s Pound at the age of five

The Oscar-winning actor has played the role of Iron Man/Tony Stark in several films since 2008’s Iron Man

He had a seven-year romance with Sarah Jessica Parker from 1984 to 1991, but their romance ended partly due to his drug addiction

The star is depicted as Strauss in Oppenheimer

Robert Downey Sr. said he first let his son try marijuana at the age of six and that he “might have had a little Coke” as a kid – photo 2008

He co-starred with Molly Ringwald in The Pick-up Artist (1987) – that same year he played Julian Wells, a drug-addicted rich kid in Less than Zero.

However, the star’s drug addiction became increasingly apparent – and he went to rehab for the first time after completing the film. ][40]

In 1992, he played the role of Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin – in which the star’s method acting led to him learning to play the violin as well as left-handed tennis and hiring an attitude coach.

He won a BAFTA and scored his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, losing to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman.

The actor was first arrested in 1996 for possession of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded . 357-caliber Magnum, was placed on probation for three years and required to undergo mandatory drug testing.

The following year, Downey skipped a drug test and spent four months in Los Angeles County Jail

After a series of arrests in the mid-1990s for drug possession and escalating addiction, he managed to clear himself enough to star in 2003’s The Singing Detective.

His success with that film helped him land bigger roles, including in the critically acclaimed black comedy crime film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), and his comeback culminated in David Fincher’s chilling procedural thriller Zodiac (2007), in which Downey played a journalist. on the trail of the infamous serial killer.

That film hit a little too close to the reality of Downey’s life, as his character eventually gives up the hunt after succumbing to a debilitating alcohol addiction.

In 1992, he played the role of Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin – in which the star’s acting style led to him learning to play the violin as well as left-handed tennis and hiring an attitude coach.

The star ran into legal trouble: he is seen in a mugshot in 1999

The star will be seen in April with wife Susan – they share two children and Downey is also father to son Indio from his marriage to Deborah Falconer

He completed a stunning career revival with 2008’s Iron Man, which became a huge box office success and a hit with critics.

The movie star went on to play the character and his alter ego Tony Stark in two more sequels, a split-billed Captain America film and four Avengers films, culminating in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the second highest-grossing film of all time .

Downey married actress and singer Deborah Falconer on May 29, 1992, after dating for 42 days. Their son Indio arrived the following year and they divorced in 2004 amid the strain of the actor’s drug addiction.

He is now married to producer Susan Downey and the couple share a son and daughter.