Robert Downey Jr. Says Kids “Seemed Anxious” to Shave Their Dad’s Head for ‘The Sympathizer’ Role

Carly Thomas
·2 min read
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Robert Downey Jr. had some help from his children to prepare for his role in The Sympathizer.

The actor opened up to Extra at Tuesday’s Los Angeles premiere of the new HBO series about how his kids helped him shave his head for the role.

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“They seemed anxious to shave my dome,” Downey admitted. “There’s something really cathartic about shaving your head or shaving someone’s head, and then our daughter Avri was a big Stranger Things fan, and she actually gave herself a buzz cut at one point, too, so I don’t know what to say about all this.”

The Oscar-winning actor shares son Exton, 12, and daughter Avri, 9, with his wife Susan Downey, as well as son Indio, 30, with his ex-wife Deborah Falconer.

In October 2022, Downey documented his kids shaving his head in a video posted on Instagram. In the footage, he enlisted Exton and Avri with the task of shaving off his hair for the project that was starting to film soon.

“Yeah, The Sympathizer?” Avri said, as Exton added, “Yeah, you’re playing like five roles or something.”

“Right. Well anyway, I don’t want to wear a bald cap, so will you guys shave my head?” the Oppenheimer star asked in response.

The Sympathizer, which debuts on HBO and Max April 14, sees Downey play four different characters in the series based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen. The show, set at the end of the Vietnam War, follows an unnamed spy called The Captain (played by Hoa Xuande) who flees to the U.S., where he continues to gather intelligence and report back to the Viet Cong. Downey plays a CIA operative, a professor, a congressman and a movie director — all of whom have a role in the spy’s journey.

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