SUBMITTED BY Timbo

October 22, 2003 — After many run-ins with the law, Robert Downey Jr. is back in two movies, and grateful to be working again.

The actor is simply thankful that he's "at the Regency Hotel, and not hung over and trying to hook up with the three most deviant of my peers."

Downey, 38, has reason to be appreciative. With the help of therapy, meditation and 12-step recovery programs, he's staying on the straight and narrow. It's a hard-won sobriety that comes after numerous arrests and court appearances, two prison terms and a yearlong stint in rehab. Now, Downey can focus on his work, for a change.

First, he's psoriasis-ridden pulp author Dan Dark in The Singing Detective, which opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles. And on Nov. 21, he plays a shrink in the Halle Berry horror thriller Gothika.

"I'm doing great. I'm showing up for stuff," he says. "I don't have to prove myself to anyone or do anything, and it's not even like my attitude is that different. I'm unencumbered by the most glaring of my character defects."

Read the full interview at the link below.