Robert Downey Jr. and his wife, producer Susan Downey, have been together for a whopping 20+ years—a lifetime by Hollywood standards. And after two kids, a buncha projects together under their company Team Downey, and a slew of adorable Instagram tributes, the two remain completely head over heels in love.
If you’re wondering when the couple first met (Susan hilariously recalled the actor being “interesting but weird” at first, lol) and how they went on to become such an iconic power couple, we’ve got you covered with a timeline all about them right here.
2003
Ah, the first encounter! Susan and Robert initially cross paths while working on the psychological thriller Gothika together. Robert stars in the project alongside Halle Berry and Penélope Cruz, while Susan works on the film as a producer with Silver Pictures. TL;DR: These two were practically destined to become the definition of a power couple.
“We were up in Montreal prepping for Gothika, and we had lunch with the director and Halle Berry,” Susan later recalled of their not-so-cute meet cute during a subsequent 2014 interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “Everybody else ordered Japanese, but Robert told us how oatmeal was the ‘superfood.’ He brought his own packets of oatmeal to have at lunch. And he had this box of various herbs and stuff. And then he started doing these yoga moves. I mean, he was interesting but weird.”
Despite the truly hilarious origin story, Susan eventually revealed her and Robert’s working relationship soon took a turn for the romantic: “Four of us would work out together after the shoot, and one day, when we were on the treadmills, Robert goes, ‘Levin, you wanna go to dinner?’ and I said, ‘Eh, I’ll grab something to eat,’ so we agreed to go change and meet in the lobby. And as he walked down the stairs toward me, I remember looking up at him and suddenly thinking, He’s really cute.”
“There was something in my gut that knew really quickly. I knew three months in that this was it,” she added.
Live footage of me wondering when it’ll be my turn 😭:
October 9, 2003
The two go ~red carpet official~ at the premiere of The Singing Detective—a musical the actor starred in with Katie Holmes, Robin Wright, and Adrien Brody—and the vibes could not be more divine.
November 5, 2003
RDJ proposes! And during a joint appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the couple opens up about the story of just how he popped the question.
“It was her birthday and I wanted to get her before she turned 30, so I waited right before midnight, and I got her a bunch of stuff and then there was a ring,” the actor recounts to Oprah. “And she opened that, and I said…What did I say?”
“‘I was wondering if, maybe, you’d wanna, like, be my wife one day,’” Susan then recalls. S’cute!
Btw, in that aforementioned 2014 Hollywood Reporter interview, it was also revealed that while the proposal happened after only months of dating, Susan insisted on a longer engagement. The producer ultimately got her way because two years later....
August 27, 2005
Robert and Susan tie the knot in a truly lavish and star-studded wedding ceremony held in the Hamptons. And because the guest list is the definition of stacked, it’s no surprise there are performances by Sting and Billy Joel.
2008
RDJ fans have Susan to thank for the actor landing one of his most-known roles: Sherlock Holmes. While producing Guy Ritchie’s movie RocknRolla around the same time the director was hired to spearhead Sherlock Holmes, Susan takes on the role of agent and adds Robert’s name to the hat of potential actors for the franchise.
“If Susan hadn’t been in the room, Robert probably wouldn’t have become Sherlock Holmes. She facilitated it, definitely,” Ritchie later recounted to the Hollywood Reporter.
Oh, and btw, Susan not only produced the first Sherlock Holmes movie, but she *also* went on to work on its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. “It’s much better to spend four months together than four months apart, and she’s a great producer,” Robert wound up telling People of the experience.
“I think great relationships are about conflict resolution, and so we had a lot of problems to solve on the movie, and it was also about our lives together as a couple, so it worked out all right,” he added.
December 2009
Susan opens up about what it’s like being with Robert as he maintains his sobriety, which is a journey he began in 2003.
“I said, ‘This isn’t gonna work.’ I made it clear that to stay with me, nothing could happen,” she says during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “I think he saw what we had. There was something magical there, something we couldn’t put our finger on. He always says that we became this third thing when we got together—something that neither of us could have become by ourselves—and I think that’s true.”
January 17, 2010
Robert wins the Golden Globe for Best Actor for *drumroll, pls* Sherlock Holmes! And during his acceptance speech, the actor jokingly shares that his wife had actually encouraged him to refrain from preparing a speech ahead of time.
“I would like to thank Susan Downey for telling me that Matt Damon was going to win, so don’t bother to prepare a speech,” he hilariously says to the audience before sarcastically listing one of the reasons he doesn’t want to thank her: “I really don’t want to thank my wife, because I could be bussing tables at the Daily Grill right now, if not for her.”
After the show, Susan speaks with People about her husband’s words onstage and muses, “I know he didn’t have [a speech] fully prepared, but he is really good off the cuff, and he actually tends to do better when he doesn’t plan things.”
Obsessed!
June 2010
Clearly, the couple that collabs together stays together, because in 2010, Robert and Susan start their own production company, Team Downey.
In the time since, the couple has nabbed a buncha wins and garnered recognition for their work on TV shows and movies:
August 2011
The duo confirms the news they’re expecting their first child together! “Robert and Susan could not be more excited over this news,” the actor’s rep says in a statement at the time. “They can’t wait to welcome this new baby into their wonderful family.”
February 7, 2012
The celebs welcome their son, Exton Elias Downey, and a friend of the pair says the following to People of the happy news: “Everyone is healthy and they couldn’t be happier.”
July 9, 2014
Robert and Susan kinda-sorta announce they’re expecting a second child (!!!) when the Golden Globe winner posts the hilarious musing, “Yo. Susan. Me. Baby. Girl. November. Scorpio?”
October 10, 2014
Team Downey releases its first film, The Judge. In the project, Robert stars as a lawyer who returns to his hometown and has to reckon with a tense relationship with his father (played by Robert Duvall).
Oh, and a moment for this MOMENT, pls:
November 5, 2014
Susan gives birth to the couple’s daughter, Avri Roel Downey, and once again, Robert turns to social media (this time, it’s *checks notes* Facebook) to fill fans in on all the deets.
“After 9 months of intensive development, Team Downey is pleased to announce our 2014 fall/winter project,” the celeb pens before adding, “Principal photography commenced 11-14 and will continue until she says, ‘Dad! You are embarrassing me...I’m 30, this has gotta stop.’ Yep...Avri Roel Downey joined the party @ 3:22 a.m. on November 4th...she’s 7lbs even, spans 20 inches, and is accompanied by a variety of Susan’s traits that have seemingly overwritten my ‘junk DNA.’ I’ll post pics here + there when I’m not too busy staring...”
August 27, 2015
Robert celebrates his and Susan’s landmark 10-year anniversary with the sweetest Instagram post:
“A perfect 10. Happy Anniversary, Mrs. Downey,” he writes in the caption.
January 2020
Team Downey releases one of its most popular projects to date: Dolittle. The premise of the forever iconic film follows Robert, who plays a vet with the ability to speak to animals.
“It was fun to pick something that our kids could see,” Susan told Extra about its plot. “Because even though he’s let our son see the Marvel movies—certain ones—they weren’t able to see any of the movies that we’ve worked on. We don’t like going too long without having an extremely difficult project together.”
These two>>>>
June 4, 2021
The couple’s entertainment company makes its Netflix debut with Sweet Tooth, a show about a boy who is half-human, half-deer in a world where there’s a surge of human-animal hybrid children being born following a pandemic.
“I just hope people have the experience that we get to have with our kids, where we cuddle up on the couch and all watch it together,” Susan says of the project during a feature for Netflix.
November 6, 2021
Robert pens a touching tribute on Instagram for Susan’s birthday: “Adjusting the halo on my heaven sent partner Mrs D...you are my everything, and November 6th, Always a day of gratitude, for your blessed birth. P.S. I will never watch ahead on a co-viewed streaming show...That is my eternal vow…”
August 27, 2022
In honor of their 17th anniversary, Robert posts a throwback wedding pic of himself and Susan on their wedding day.
“Today marks 17 years of unadulterated marital bliss...Susan, you are my bedrock, touchstone and lucky stars to boot,” the actor gushes.
February 14, 2023
Valentine’s Day rolls around, and Robert takes the opportunity to upload these truly 🥺❤️ pics to Instagram alongside the caption, “To she who lovingly tolerates my many shenanigans, I pledge my undying love...”
May 18, 2023
Robert and Susan attend a special screening of “Sr.”—aka a new Netflix doc about the actor’s relationship with his father that the couple also produced together.
December 2023
A source tells Us Weekly that even after 20 years together, Robert and Susan are “as much in love today as they were in the days after they met. They’re the envy of all their friends because they make it look so easy,” the insider adds.
February 24, 2024
Robert wins a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Oppenheimer, which (1) is a Big Freakin Deal and (2) is responsible for the celeb’s truly eye-watering speech about his wife.
“For 22 years, she has flawlessly portrayed a sane and rational individual who is happily married to an actor,” the actor gushes before dedicating the award to his and Susan’s first bb together: “Exton Elias, this one’s for you.”
March 10, 2024
Robert and Susan pull up to the 2024 Oscars and not only do they look incredible, but they end up having a ton to celebrate since the actor wins his FIRST OSCAR EVER at the ceremony!!!
In his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor, RDJ hilariously gushes, “I'd like to thank my veterinarian—I meant wife—Susan Downey over there. She found me, a snarling rescue pet, and loved me back to life. That's why I am here. Thank you.”
After the awards show, the two obviously continue celebrating and attend the forever iconic Vanity Fair Oscar Party:
March 14, 2024
Susan shares the important rule that's kept her and Robert's 'ship so strong for nearly two decades: “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.”
“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,” the producer continues before adding, “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.”
April 8, 2024
The couple opens up about their romance to Esquire in its cover story of Robert. During the convo with the mag, Robert speaks about how he and Susan go on walks at the beach below their house and talk out their issues—something the actor likens to a form of couple’s therapy.
Apparently, the duo's talks are centered around “trying to figure out where we’re at, what’s pissing us off, what are we afraid of, what do we want, what will bring us closer together, how do we measure ourselves against relationships that we define as exemplary and not be repeaters or over-emulate? How do we want to shape our life?”
Susan, for her part, speaks about their origin story and muses, “Everybody loves the simple narrative of somehow I came in and turned his life around and blah, blah, blah. But I can tell you that I would never be who I am without him in my life. His trajectory is just the easier one to chart because he’s had to live his ups and downs in public. When we met, we were fortunate that he was in a place where he was open to do things differently than he had historically. But you know what? So was I.”
“It’s beyond us being two humans who cohabitate and have built a life together,” Robert confesses. “There’s something about her that remains almost entirely a mystery. I still—I’ll see her across the kitchen and study her as though I’m a private investigator. And I’m not looking for some hidden motive. It’s just...she’s a full-length mirror.”
Obsessed with these two!
Aaaaaaand that’s pretty much all we know for now! But check back in for more updates on quite possibly the only Hollywood couple to actually make us believe in love.
