The Power of Loyalty

In 2003, Robert Downey Jr. was a Hollywood cautionary tale. Years of addiction and multiple arrests had left him uninsurable, blacklisted by studios that once fought over him. No production company would risk a picture on an actor insurers wouldn't touch — and Downey, freshly sober, had nowhere to prove himself.

During this pivotal time, Mel Gibson chose to stand by Downey when nearly everyone else in the industry had written him off. Gibson personally paid the insurance bond so Downey could star in The Singing Detective, and quietly kept him afloat with food and shelter along the way.

That decision paid off when Downey rebuilt his reputation film by film, culminating in 2008 when Marvel handed him the role of Tony Stark — a gamble that launched Iron Man and made Downey one of the most bankable stars alive.

Downey later said: “When I couldn’t get sober, [Mel] told me not to give up hope, and he urged me to find my faith… he kept a roof over my head, and he kept food on the table.”

Gibson never asked for anything back — except that Downey someday do the same for someone else. That’s the real superhero story.