14 metrolife Wednesday, September 30, 2009 :60second interview Robert Downey Jr Robert Downey Jr, 44, is starring in The Soloist, a moving story about the real-life friendship between an LA journalist (Downey) and a homeless violin virtuoso (Jamie Foxx). After that, he will play Sherlock Holmes opposite Jude Laws Watson in Guy Ritchies film Interview by Scott Tenorman People on Skid Row [LAs homeless area] were like: Dude, I was in jail with you, I was like: F***, dude I remember you! Youre carrying something that looks like an old-fashioned doctors bag. Whats in it? Wallet. Lilac water. BlackBerry. Jude Law got me a really expensive phone. Lypo-Spheric AGE Blocker. Cigar lighter. Cigar. The rest? None of your business. Youve said before you feel like a geek. I think everyone is, at a certain level. Im just glad the geek has been raised to a different status than he or she was in the past. Do you feel wiser with age? I guess so. Then again, I know people who are in their mid-50s who are doing the dumbest stuff ever. Any dumb stuff you did that was kind of fun? It was in my contract that I got to keep all the clothes from Chaplin [he played the comedian in the 1992 film] and one day, when I was in some perpetual blackout in LA, these 20 boxes arrived at my house. I was probably there with a bunch of brat-packers and strippers and we all tore open the boxes and walked around dressed like Charlie Chaplin for a couple of days. Your father was a director. Did you always know youd go into the same business? People have told me I used to say: Im going to go to Hollywood and become really successful, so if you want to get out of that hole youre working in and stop being that latchkey street-kid, then come with me. I dont recall that but it was probably one of several teenaged-years mantras I used. It seems like youre working non-stop. Do you feel a need to somehow make up for lost time? The truth is I need to be kept in check. I need a system of controls. Now sometimes that is free-time, like when the missus and I went to the Bahamas and did nothing for two weeks, but even then, I knew where we were and what we were doing. I together were definitely going to be better than me alone or me with anybody else. Im pretty sure were going to go the distance. Your wife produced Sherlock Holmes. Whats it like working together? Were not together just to make movies, you know. She provides a variety of services. Youve dabbled in music. Any future plans? I released an album, The Futurist. It made a bit of dough but largely I worked my ass off and wasnt compensated in the fashion I am accustomed to, so I dont know why Id want to do another. How good is it to be you right now? Well, Ill be driving my car home, blowing a cigar, listening to Peter Frampton and Ill say: I cannot believe what a fantastic life I have. What a fantastic day I had. What a nice evening it is. More than anything, its just comforting to know that, for this next little period of time, things are going to be OK. The Soloist must have been so different from Iron Man 2. Yeah, it turned into this incredibly, wonderfully humiliating three months on Skid Row [an area of LA famous for its homeless population], which is probably exactly what I needed. My street cred there was pretty high. It never occurred to me that people would be like: Dude, I was in county jail with you, and I was like: F***, dude, I remember you! So I didnt feel all that ill at ease. Jamie Foxx said he started therapy after making this film. What about you? I was already in therapy. You talk about your missus [film producer Susan Downey] a lot. Has she changed you? She didnt change me at all. She just gave me an ultimatum. I think we both changed and turned into a 300-year-old couple. What changed was I came to believe that she and Television What To Watch Brother beyond: Exploring the world of identical twins Todays highlights With Adam Hyland Pick Of The Day The Secret Life Of Twins BBC1, 9pm This interesting two-part documentary (concluding tomorrow) sees identical twin doctors Chris and Xand Van Tulleken explore the world of the divided embryo and identical twins in general. Theirs is a personal journey to discover if they are destined to remain the same forever, but it also gives us a fascinating insight into what it must be like to live with a doppelganger, and how the similarities and differences between identical twins are helping scientists find out what makes us all tick. Midweek TV3, 9pm Having dived straight into this new series by interviewing Jackiey Budden, mother of Jade Goody, and the parents of a girl with locked-in syndrome in her first episode, Colette Fitzpatrick turns her attention to the Lisbon Treaty, getting the thoughts of Jim Corr and ex rugby star Denis Hickie, while Jackie Lavin tells us what really goes on when the cameras go off on The Apprentice. RT1 RT2 TV3 8.55 Holby City (T) 10.00 Judge Joe Brown 10.25 Leaders Questions 11.30 As Time Goes By 12.00 Shortland Street (T) 12.30 Doctors (T) 1.00 News And Weather 1.25 Home And Away (T) 1.55 Neighbours (T) 2.20 EastEnders (R,T) 3.00 How Clean Is Your House? 3.30 Fair City (R,T) Zumo changes the locks at Kellys house. 4.00 The Afternoon Show. Entertainment features. 5.45 Nuacht RT 6.00 The Angelus 6.01 News And Weather (T) 7.00 Nationwide (T) The latest topical issues. 7.30 Fair City Bela is confused when Yvonne tells him he must work with Connie. 7.57 Lotto 8.00 Off The Rails (T) New series. See highlights. 8.30 Corrigans City Farm New series. Richard Corrigan demonstrates how to haggle for value. 9.00 News And Weather (T) 9.40 FILM: Shall We Dance? (2004) A bored lawyer signs up for dancing classes, but tries to keep his new hobby a secret. Romantic comedy, starring Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon. 11.35 RT News And Weather 11.40 Oireachtas Report Coverage of the days political proceedings. 12.10 Prisoners Of The Past. 1.15 FILM: Desolation Sound (2005) 8.25 The Scooby-Doo Show 8.50 The Adventures Of Bottle Top Bill And His Best Friend Corky 9.05 Den Tots 2.40 The Den: Tak And The Power Of Juju 3.05 Shaun The Sheep 3.15 Kazoo 3.30 Kid Clones In Space 3.45 Neds Declassified School Survival Guide 4.15 The Latest Buzz 4.40 Ice 5.00 News 5.10 Hannah Montana 5.35 Neighbours. Lucas chooses to support Steph rather than save his business. 6.00 The Simpsons (T) Cartoon capers with the unmistakable family. 6.30 Home And Away (T) Rachel and Tony continue to search for baby Harry. 7.00 RT Sport On 2: Champions League Live Manchester United v VfL Wolfsburg (Kick-off 7.45pm). Bill OHerlihy is joined by Eamon Dunphy and John Giles to present all the action from the Group B fixture at Old Trafford, as last seasons runners-up play their opening home game of the campaign. This is Wolfsburgs maiden Champions League campaign, but the Red Devils will not be underestimating the German champions, who opened with a 3-1 victory over CSKA Moscow. Brazilian striker Grafite grabbed a hat-trick in that win over the Russians and will relish putting his impressive scoring record up against the United defence. 11.00 RT News On 2 And World Forecast (T) 11.30 FILM: The Page Turner (2006) Premiere. Thriller, with Catherine Frot, Deborah Francois and Pascal Greggory. 7.00 Ireland AM 10.00 The Jeremy Kyle Show (R) 11.00 The Morning Show With Sybil And Martin 11.50 Midday 12.50 Xpos (R) 1.20 The Oprah Winfrey Show 2.10 The Ellen DeGeneres Show. 3.05 Emmerdale (R,T) 3.30 Colin And Justins Home Heist (R) The duo tackle Eighties decor. 4.30 Judge Judy. Double bill. Real-life court cases, presided over by outspoken New York judge Judy Sheindlin. 5.30 News@5.30 6.00 Xpos Daily entertainment news. 6.30 Friends (R) Part one of two. Chandler goes missing on the eve of his wedding. 7.00 Emmerdale (T) Debbie learns Michael still plans to go ahead with his marriage. 7.30 Little People, Big World Matt and Amy go on a cruise. 8.00 All Saints (R) Dan joins Bart in dealing with a complicated pregnancy scenario that reminds him of his loss. 9.00 Midweek Colette Fitzpatrick presents a weekly current affairs programme covering major stories from home and abroad. See highlights. 10.00 Hells Kitchen USA Gordon Ramsay attempts to fashion a group of masterchefs from aspiring cooks. 11.00 Nightly News 11.05 Tonight With Vincent Browne The host presents the topical panel show. 12.00 Play TV. 4.45 Trinny And Susannah Undress The Nation (R) 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm 11pm index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html