Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan Downey at FYSEE | Netflix in May 2023.Photo:Charley Gallay/Getty
Charley Gallay/Getty
Robert Downey Jr.is a stand-up friend to hisAvengerscostars.
While reflecting on Robert’s tendency to look out for those around him, his wife,Susan Downey, toldVanity Fairthat the actor has a special bond with many of his former Marvel castmates as she shared rare insight intoChris Evans’ultra-private September wedding.
“I even saw it at Chris Evans’ wedding,” Susan, 50, said as she recalled an interaction between the formerIron Manstar, 58, and his costars at the Cape Cod, Mass., ceremony between Evans, 42, andAlba Baptista.
“Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth were talking to Robert” at the wedding, she said, and it reminded her of her husband’s role as a source of advice and guidance to many of his fellow actors.
“I was like, ‘Oh right,’ he is the guy who is…I don’t want to say a mentor, but I just see him as the dude who knows a lot. He’s been through a lot of scenarios, both in life and in work, and has survived a lot," Susan explained.
She said the skills her husband has picked up from those experiences is part of what “made him wonderful and weird” to herwhen they first met in 2003— and “is still who he is today.”
Marvel Studios presidentKevin Feigeechoed Susan’s sentiments about Robert as he told the outlet, “We used to joke and say that Robert was the head of the acting department because everybody there looked up to him.”
Feige added, “He took them all under his wing, but not in a subservient sense. He just became their cheerleader.”
Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015).Walt Disney Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
Walt Disney Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection
After attending the wedding, Robert and Susan went to dinner with Johansson, 39, and her husband,Colin Jost, near Cambridge, Mass., and an onlooker told PEOPLE that the group was “extraordinarily nice” as they dined together.
Though the nuptials nearly three months ago marked one of the rare instances when much of the cast were seen together, many of the stars often share updates about each other and provide fans a glimpse into their friendships outside the Marvel universe.
After Evans wasnamed PEOPLE’s 2022 Sexiest Man Alive, Hemsworth revealed thathe and several others were jokingly roasting the actor’s cover poseover text.
“We have anAvengerstext chain, and it very quickly was like, ‘What are you doing with your hands back there?’" theThoractor said. “It was like, Downey said he was being arrested, I said it was a beautiful mugshot, and Jeremy Renner said a series of things which we won’t repeat. … Filthy.”
Hemsworth, whowas Sexiest Man Alive in 2014, said it was the “passing of the torch” and that he was “absolutely” proud of Evans. “He is indeed a sexy man,” he joked.
Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. get their hand prints cemented at TCL Chinese Theatre in 2019.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
The cast is also always there to support each other in times of need. After Renner’sserious snow plow accidentin January,Johansson and Evans visited their former costarand were “so f—— happy to see him” recovering.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to see him again,” Johansson toldVariety. “To not only see him again but to see him thriving and in such an amazing space, mentally.”
Evans said of the visit, “No tears at all. A lot of laughs and smiles and hugs. Leave it to Jeremy to take something this potentially tragic and turn it into something so inspiring.”
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The cast’s group text chain was also brought up as Johansson revealed that the costars began to joke about Renner’s superhero-like recovery.
“On theAvengerstext chain, we’re like, ‘Okay, you beat us all. That’s it. You won,’ ” she recalled. “That’s like real superhero stuff. It’s unbelievable.”
source: people.com
