Upside Downey

fanfair

Where style meets substance

Robert Downey Jr., man-child of the badboy director, co-stars this month with Mel Gibson in yet another Hollywood Nam picture, Air America, named for the C.I.A. airline in Laos. What was it like working with Gibson? "Educational," says Downey. "It was like playing with Ted Williams—that effortless talent he had to step up and hit a home run. ' ' When Downey returned from filming in the Thai jungle, Sarah Jessica Parker, his longtime love, who is currently shooting L.A. Story with Steve Martin, was waiting for him in their Hollywood Hills house, which was built for Charlie Chaplin by one of Cecil B. DeMille's set designers. Life with the infamously witty Downey can be a combination of the epic and comedic. "I can't make him toe the line," Parker says with a laugh. "But I can sure make him smile."

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