Robert Downey — clean, sober and talented

‘Talent usually wins out’
“In my mind, talent usually wins out,” he said. “The bottom line for studios is that (Downey) is one of the best working actors out there.

He’s clean and sober, so studios say, ‘We should take a shot at him.’”

While Downey is worth the risk, he said, not all celebrities with personal demons or behavior problems can make the same claim. “With somebody like Lindsay Lohan, showing up late, it’s ridiculous, because she doesn’t have the talent to sustain that,” he said. “Robert has always been good about the work. I’ve never heard any negative feedback about him regarding the work, he’s good with the crew, he’s good with everybody. How you treat the film community is part and parcel of how the film community treats you.

“With Lindsay Lohan, there’s an air of entitlement that doesn’t hold up anymore. There are too many solid actors working right now to give work to somebody who feels entitled like that and doesn’t have the chops to back it up.”

Downey obviously has the goods. Well before his 1996 arrest for possession of drugs and weapons, which began his descent, he snagged an Academy Award nomination for the 1992 biopic “Chaplin.” He has also appeared in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” and Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers.”

John Toll, a two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer, shot “Tropic Thunder,” set for release this summer. A cinematographer is on set more often than just about anybody, either shooting or setting up the next shot, so he or she has a ringside seat for all goings-on, whether positive or negative. He said his experience with Downey was exemplary.

“It was a pleasure to work with Robert,” he said. “He’s a great actor, a consummate professional and a wonderful presence on the set.”

Obviously, that wasn’t always the case. Morrow could sense a change when she worked with him. She said he seemed warm and secure, funny and dedicated.

“I actually think that who I got was who he really is,” she said. “I think when people are strung out and wasted, that’s a room that they enter on their journey. He walked out of that room and he hasn’t reentered. Who he really is is who you see now.”

Michael Ventre lives in Los Angeles and is a regular contributor to msnbc.com.

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