Robert Downey Jr.’s Wife Susan Reveals the Secret to Their Successful 18-Year Marriage

Robert Downey Jr. is a highly sought-after, award-winning actor with credits in many well-received movies, from Iron Man to Oppenheimer (which earned him an Oscar). Due to his thriving career, the esteemed actor spends a lot of time traveling to and situated in different locations to film his latest projects. But his unpredictable lifestyle doesn’t stop him from prioritizing his relationship with his wife, Susan Downey. 

In an interview with People on March 13, 2024, for the publication’s Oscars issue, Susan revealed the secret to their thriving 18-year marriage, despite Robert’s ever-changing schedule: “We do have a two-week rule—which often feels too long—but we don’t go more than two weeks without seeing each other and the family being together,” Susan shared. The pair—who met in 2003 on the set of Gothika, which Susan produced—are parents to Exton and Avri, plus Robert has a son Indio from his former marriage to Deborah Falconer. 

Since Robert’s acting gigs require him to shoot in various places around the world at any point, the couple makes an effort to remain present and flexible. “You keep the basic rule of two weeks, and then, you don’t try and think too far ahead because so much of what we do is oddly unpredictable,” Susan mentions. “You just need know—someone might get sick, or there might be a shutdown, or this or that. So, you just have to have some basic things in place, and then, you have to be willing to flow with the rest of it.”

Because Susan is a producer and executive, her schedule is a bit easier to navigate compared to her husband’s, which makes their two-week rule more feasible to maintain. “The good news is I’m not in front of the camera, so as a producer, I end up with a little bit more flexibility in terms of location of where I would need to be,” she points out. “I admire and have a lot of empathy for couples who both have to be in front of the camera because you get stuck and you have to make those choices.”

Even though her husband doesn’t have a traditional job that allows him to come home every night, Susan is constantly in awe of Robert’s talent and work ethic. “He approaches everything he’s done—every Marvel movie, every other movie—with the same level of commitment and belief that he is an actor and that he’s doing his best to create a role,” Susan says. “But sometimes, I think it looks so effortless that it’s just like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s just Downey being Downey.’ When it’s like, ‘No, there’s a lot of craft and skill that is going into the performance.’”