If people think of an excellent Hollywood actor who is also a great dad, Robert Downey Jr. probably isn't one of them. The actor's dark past of addiction almost ruined the life of his eldest son, Indio. For this reason, Indio isn't very close to his half-siblings Avri Roel Downey and Exton Elias Downey. Let's take a look at the demons of Robert Downey Jr. and how they followed his son Indio.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Toxic Relationship With His Father

Being a father is one of the greatest responsibilities and one of the most challenging things in life. Downey once said in an interview that he wasn't convinced if he was fit to be a father. In his own words, that means becoming a role model. Knowing the background of this actor and precisely the terrible father figure he had, his doubts were just fully justified.

Downey was born on April 4th of 1965, just when the hippie era was in full swing in the United States. That love and peace movement influenced his parents, especially Robert Downey Sr., a director of satirical comedies.

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Robert Sr loved that time very much, and Robert Downey Jr. admitted that he had been around a certain little green plant a lot in his childhood. The "good vibes" of his father's hippie lifestyle went overboard because he allowed his son to smoke when he was just six years old.

Struggling With Addiction

The actor later declared that those moments were the only connection that he had with his father. Being exposed to illegal substances and being around them was a part of his daily life, so because he started using drugs at a very young age, the star developed an addiction.

In the 80s and 90s, things got out of control. It was so bad that in 1996 a couple of Downey's friends, Sean Penn and Dennis Quaid, were really worried about his health, so they signed him up for a rehabilitation center in Tucson, Arizona. However, three days later, Downey escaped, boarded a plane back home, and returned to his old ways.

Robert Downey Jr.'s Family With Second Wife

Fortunately, the actor is currently a wonderful husband to his second wife, Susan, and an excellent father. Besides being utterly committed to the upbringing and education of the two children they have, Avri and Exton, he also knows how to discipline them when it's necessary. It's very important for him that his children have the freedom to play and enjoy their childhood. Nevertheless, he also knows that he has to pay attention to them and teach them how important it is to do productive things.

Indio's Mother

Robert Downey Jr. has changed his habits and way of looking at life, including raising his children. It's because, just like many other cases in Hollywood, Downey has children with a couple of different women.

The first one is the actress, model, and singer Deborah Falconer. The couple said "I do" on May 29th of 1992, after dating for 42 days. They were married for 12 years, but although their marriage lasted just over a decade, they had only one child, who they decided to name Indio, born on September 7th of 1993. Unfortunately, things between the actor and Deborah didn't work out as they wished. For this reason, they decided to split up on April 24th of 2004.

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During the 12 years of their marriage, Deborah had to deal with her husband's addictions and other demons; that's why she decided to let him go. In 2000, she decided to move out of the house and begin the divorce. However, the whole process ended after four years.

Indio Inherited His Father's Demons

Although the poor Indio had already witnessed his father's many ups and downs after the divorce and everything, it only got worse. Despite that and Downey's multiple problems with controlling his use of drugs, Indio shared the screen with his father a year after the divorce was finalized in 2005 when he was just 12 years old.

Robert Downey Jr.'s eldest son always showed his talent for the guitar from an early age, so he started playing it professionally in his teens and later formed the rock band The Dose with his best friend, Ralph Alexander.

Indio Arrested on Drug Charges

Before he decided to form his band, Indio also had to battle with his own demons, and it turns out that in June of 2014, he was arrested in Hollywood for possession of drugs. At that moment, Downey and his ex-wife Deborah supported their son throughout the whole trial.

After the accusations and the hearing, Indio pleaded guilty. Because of that, the authorities allowed him to avoid a felony conviction under the condition that he stayed in rehab and avoided all things related to illegal substances.

Now Indio seems to be doing better, and although his half-siblings are much younger than him, Avri (six years old) and Exton (nine years old), he still has the chance to become close to them.

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