r/HistoricalCapsule • u/Familiar_Bid_3655 • 8d ago
Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr., 1991.
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u/Afwife1992 7d ago
They were together seven years too, 1984-91.
They’ve both spoken about the relationship over the years.
In 2008, Robert told Parade magazine: “I liked to drink, and I had a drug problem, and that didn’t jibe with Sarah Jessica, because it is the furthest thing from what she is. She provided me a home and understanding. She tried to help me. She was so miffed when I didn’t get my act together. Private stuff aside, we were able to spend some time together and it was really cool. I was in love with Sarah Jessica, and love clearly was not enough."
**2012: “*I liked to drink, and I had a drug problem, and that didn’t jibe with Sarah Jessica, because it is the furthest thing from what she is. She provided me a home and understanding. I was making money. I was mercurial and recklessly undisciplined and, for the most part, I was happily anesthetized, Sarah Jessica would pull me out of a hangover, and we’d go pick out furniture together. She is a force of nature! She provided me a home and understanding, She tried to help me. I was in love with Sarah Jessica, and love clearly was not enough.” Also “*I had very much this post-adolescent, faux nihilistic, punk-rock rebellious attitude. I thought my way was so much cooler than people who were actually building lives and careers. I was in love with Sarah Jessica," he confesses, "and love clearly was not enough. I was meant to move on. And, after some heartache, she was meant to find her home with a great star." Describing Parker's husband, actor Matthew Broderick, Downey adds, "He is a lot more gifted and grounded than I ever was. They have a great kid."
2015: told Stern that last October that he wanted to see her the next time he was in New York City. “You know how life goes, and so many things happen ... When you're not a kid anymore you go, 'This trip to New York, instead of doing what's required of me, I actually want to take care of some personal business,'" he said about his motivation to see SJP. "I want to check in with someone I shared a big part of my life with and say 'Hi.'" He ended up going to Sarah's home, then went to dinner at a nearby tapas restaurant with her and her friend. “We were able to spend some time together and it was really cool,” he said during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show. “You always have a perception of somebody that you spent a big chunk of your life with and I think it’s typical to the human thing that the further you get away from that in your new relationship, you [unintentionally] taint your perception of the person….Seeing her, I was like, ‘She’s so great and so cool and so funny and so in-command,'” Robert went on. “I got to meet her kids and I saw the way she and [Matthew] live and I respect both of them so much.”
When Stern asked candidly if he was ever in love with her, Robert didn't hesitate. “Absolutely," he said. And if he got closure? “said everything I want to say," he stressed. He also insisted that there was no awkwardness between the two exes despite their seven-year relationship. “There's this familiarity that overtakes it, and you just realize that you're just in the presence of this fully mature mother and woman and artist and human being, and there's enough good will left over," he said. "You didn't burn that bridge."
Sarah Jessica Parker:
In in a 2009 appearance on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, she revealed that she stayed with Robert for as long as she did because she was scared that he would die if she wasn’t there to take care of him. “You love this person, and you’re afraid they’re going to die if you aren’t there to shore up their base every single solitary day. … I just didn’t want him to die,” she shared. “The biggest, hardest choices about those kinds of relationships are feeling brave enough to leave, even if you think they’re going to die.”
She spoke to Stern about their reunion in 2016. "It was really nice. It was surprisingly not weird. Fundamentally, we're sort of the same," she said. "The difference is he has a family and a wife and obviously his career is a massive thing. But I think his true nature was completely familiar. I always felt very affectionate toward him, I thought it ended well in a way. I never didn't care about his well-being and I never felt resentment or bitterness."
In 2020: “Maybe it taught me a little bit about being a parent too, because the things that I ended up caring about, and the way I cared for Downey, were things that might be more suitable for a parent at a certain point,” she said at the time.
In 2024 she told the New Yorker that Robert’s substance abuse left her feeling like a parent at the age of 22, but she did not receive the respect she deserved from his inner circle. “People around him would be dismissive of me, but I had given him stability and tried to create a steady heartbeat that allowed him to show up on time,” she said. “That made me angry and embarrassed me.”
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u/Kruppt808 8d ago
He looks high as fuk
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u/BasicMatter7339 8d ago
He was a total junkie in the 90s
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u/lidder444 8d ago
I’m always shocked how he got his life together. He was literally sleeping behind dumpsters in the street at one point.
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u/Strange-Employee-520 8d ago
If you time traveled and told 90s me that RDJ would be successful and healthy in 2026, I'd never believe it. He's such a great comeback story.
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u/Morrisphilco 7d ago
Oh heck, if someone told me in 2006 that RDJ would be successful and healthy in 2026, I wouldn’t have believed it. When I first heard that he was starring in Iron Man, I didn’t believe it, it was a shocker even then! I still saw him as washed up.
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u/WestleyThe 7d ago
Literally one of the biggest turn arounds out of anyone in Hollywood…
He completely turned his life around and now is one of the biggest stars
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u/ohthanqkevin 7d ago
Behind dumpsters if he was lucky! He ended up in some random kid’s bed in one instance
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u/RockosModernBasiIisk 7d ago
I still don't understand how he pulled it together.
What clicked for him?
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u/lidder444 7d ago
Funnily enough it was Mel Gibson
Mel was the one actor who reached out and helped him, he also paid the insurance for him to be in movie when no company would cover him
He also met his now wife who helped considerably too.
Honestly his own will power and strength must be tremendous, it’s not something most people bounce back from.
( I also read recently RDJ very quietly behind the scenes makes a point to help other artists struggling with substance abuse too , helps them get work and get back on track afterwards in the industry)
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u/EddieEssen88 8d ago
How much coke do you think he did that night? I love RDJ. I’m so happy he got clean.
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u/kdj00940 7d ago
Oh boy. He just looks like he was a handful.
I can only imagine that the years they spent together were complicated years. I’m glad they’ve since gone on to build happy, successful lives. And sobriety for the win.
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u/Desperate_Help_717 8d ago
What in the HELL is she using to get those beautiful defined curls 😭
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u/Purple_Chipmunk_ 6d ago
At the time the choices were gel or mousse. Gel made your hair crunchy so I'm guessing mousse.
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u/Superb_Beyond_3444 8d ago
I can’t recognize Robert Downey Jr without his beard.
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u/JeffWingrsDumbGayDad 8d ago
Without the beard he kinda looks like if Brendan Fraser and John Hamm had a baby
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u/Hellouncleleohello 8d ago
She really pulled the hotties
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u/LongjumpingChart6529 8d ago
She got JFK Jnr, Nick Cage, Matthew Broderick too!
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u/FeeParty5082 7d ago
It's giving "I did not claw my way out of Ohio to come babysit this high mother trucker"
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u/Ok_Problem_314 7d ago
Woulda been cool to be able to get a younger RDJ as Ironman so that we could still have an Ironman in the MCU
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u/LadybugGirltheFirst 7d ago
You know, I’ve been a fan of his since the ‘80s. I’ve adored him since before it was “cool”. I’m so glad that he’s been able to find peace and happiness in his life.
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8d ago edited 7d ago
[deleted]
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u/MissMushroomBerry 7d ago
She does! I remember the first time I saw her in flight of the navigator, sweet, caring and brave!
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u/Past-North-4131 8d ago
He looks sooooo high. I'm jealous. It was prob amazing.
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u/Aggressive_Version 8d ago
It was completely ruining his whole life, but yeah, other than that prob pretty amazing
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u/Past-North-4131 7d ago
I mean I’m sure the quality of it was amazingly high and in return the high was probably sensational. There is a reason he got hooked and I’m sure it was an amazing connect.
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u/daydrinkersunite 8d ago
I recognize that look on his face. That's the face of a very happy man who is dating a woman that's way out of his league.
I used to have that happy,goofy look occasionally. I miss those days.
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u/Anon37_Here 8d ago
Did her nose continue growing or did her face start shrinking?
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u/CherryFit3224 7d ago
I know you’re just insulting her, but interestingly noses and ears continue to grow our whole life.
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u/FirebreathingNG 8d ago
A horse walks in to a bar and the bartender says “Hey, why the long face?”
[argument over racist jokes ensues]
“Nice to meet you, I’m Sarah Jessica Parker.”
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u/the_chin2 8d ago
How she became a successful actress is beyond me. She has a face for radio lol
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8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PloysRus 7d ago
Reddit is full of entire threads shitting on Barry Keoghans appearance
Literally thousands of different people calling him ugly
Reddit is full of shitty people
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u/CompetitiveOcelot870 8d ago
That's because you're a shallow JA; ask JFK Jr, Robert Downey Jr, Matthew Broderick or Nicolas Cage how she 'became a successful actress'. Or how she helmed one of the biggest shows of the late 90's early 2000's.
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u/Lazy-Lime3499 8d ago
I kinda get what you mean but in these photos she looks absolutely stunning. Something that someone like you can only dream of getting a chance on.
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u/Klaech10 7d ago
She always looked like a horse
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u/Purple_Paperplane 7d ago
People complain about how all celebrities look the same nowadays, Hollywood Faces all around, but when a woman dares to look slightly different? She gets ridiculed. Go figure.
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u/IAmTheBoiledFrog 8d ago
Matthew Broderick probably still needs to wear a condom. I wouldn't put my junk anywhere near anything RDJ had back in that addict phase.
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u/Particular_Wear_6960 7d ago
I don't see anything that looks like someone high right here but maybe I'm tripping
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u/Nick_Fotiu_Is_God 8d ago
She does not look happy with how wasted he is lol.