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The self-deprecating actor even beats people to the
punch to toss out a wisecrack about his troubles.
'Thank you, I'll be drunk by 10', Downey told an audience
at the Sundance Film Festival '. over the weekend,
after a viewer asked him what he drew from his own
life to help play the title character in 'The Singing
Detective', his first film since completing probation
and rehabilitation that followed years of substance
abuse.
'The Singing Detective' marks an edgy comeback for
Downey, 37, an Academy Awards '. nominee for 1992's
'Chaplin' and an Emmy nominee for 'Ally McBeal', a
TV gig he ultimately lost because of ongoing drug
arrests.
Adapted by Dennis Potter from his 1986 BBC TV miniseries,
'The Singing Detective' is a film-noir musical fantasy
about a mystery writer afflicted with a disease that
attacks the joints and causes agonizing skin psoriasis.
Potter, who died in 1994, suffered from the same disease.
The original series starring Joanne Whalley as the
nurse from heaven and Michael Gambon as the eponymous
detective.
Downey's character flits from bedridden reality, to
fantasies where he's a tough, crooning gumshoe, to
painful recollections of childhood trauma.
The actor said his own experiences - including a stay
at a rehab centre that followed a year in prison -
gave him inspiration to tackle Potter's deliciously
cynical character.
'Sure, there's that whole idea of being able to use
an affliction as a weapon, and there's nothing better
for someone who's abused drugs as frequently as I',
Downey said in an interview at Sundance, which runs
through Sunday. 'The best defence is a good offence'.
'The Singing Detective' co-stars Robin Wright Penn
, Katie Holmes , Jeremy Northam and Mel Gibson , whose
company produced the film. The producers premiered
it at Sundance hoping to land a distributor to put
the film into theatres.
Downey's legal troubles began in 1996 when police
found cocaine, heroin and a pistol in his vehicle.
Years of probation, drug treatment and periodic arrests
followed. Last summer, Downey ended probation after
satisfying a judge he had been clean and sober for
more than a year.
For much of that time, Downey managed to land roles
in movies, among them 'Bowfinger' and 'U.S. Marshals',
though it has been three years since his last film,
'Wonder Boys'.
'He's a very sweet man. That's why people wanted to
give him so many chances and why they've stuck with
him', said Keith Gordon, director of 'The Singing
Detective', who co-starred with Downey in Rodney Dangerfield
's 1980s comedy 'Back to School'. 'He's a good-hearted
soul. Whatever his personal demons and struggles,
he seems like he's doing great. Clean and clear-eyed
and focused. Enjoying life and feeling free of that
past'.
Downey rolled his eyes and groaned a bit as reporters
and movie fans at Sundance peppered him with questions
about his substance-abuse problems. Still, he handled
it with grace, noting that he himself liked to hear
about other people's carousing.
'I love it when people go on benders, get arrested,
get (messed) up, hit-and-runs, as long as no one gets
killed', he said. 'I just think it's amazing how screwy
people are. So that's definitely a big part of my
story'.
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