Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr. attend the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards at The Royal Festival Hall on February 18, 2024 in London, England© Getty Images

Meet Robert Downey Jr.'s wife Susan and rarely-seen three children who are following in his footsteps

The Oppenheimer star has been married to wife Susan Downey since 2005

Ahad Sanwari - New York
Senior WriterNew York
Updated: March 11, 2024

Robert Downey Jr. is really the man of the moment! The actor is in the midst of one of the best award season sweeps of his entire career, picking up every Supporting Actor trophy possible for his turn in Oppenheimer. On Sunday night, he won once again at the Oscars - marking his first ever Academy Award. 

He was delighted to win, and wasted no time in thanking his beloved wife, Susan Downey, who was once again by his side as he accepted his award. 

He began: "I'd like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order." He then joked, "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."

But who is Susan? Find out all you need to know about the star's wife and children - who are following in his footsteps - below.

© Getty Images

Robert Downey Jr. with his wife of 18 years, Susan Downey

Susan Downey

Susan has been married to Robert for 22 years and the pair are just as in love now as they were when they first met. The couple met on the set of Gothika. Susan - a film producer - recalled the first time she met her husband during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. She said: "We were up in Montreal prepping for Gothika, and we had lunch with the director and Halle Berry. 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." The pair got married in 2005 and went on to welcome two children - Exton, born in 2012, and Avri, born in 2014.

Indio Falconer

Robert first became a father in September 1993 with the birth of his son Indio Falconer, shared with ex-wife Deborah Falconer (to whom he was married from 1992-2004).

The 30-year-old and his dad share a close bond, and he even made his screen debut playing a younger version of his dad in 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

© Getty Images

Indio with father Robert and stepmom Susan

However, Indio has really come into his own as a musician, forming the band The Dose, which now goes by Indio Ink, and also branching out as a solo artist. His alternative rock releases have garnered hundreds of thousands of plays on Spotify, with his most recent EP, Cigarettes in Bed, being released this January.

MORE: Robert Downey Jr's wife Susan looks incredible as husband posts sweet tribute celebrating 18 years of marriage

Like his father, Indio also struggled with addiction, but is now nearly two years sober. In an interview with People celebrating 18 months of sobriety, he reflected: "I feel I'm going through a transformation. I'm trying to push myself to just improve in a lot of areas that I haven't done that need improvement. I'm changing slowly but surely."

© Getty Images

Indio is an alt-rock musician, a performer just like his dad

Exton Elias Downey

The Avengers star welcomed son Exton with Susan, 50, in February 2012. During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno after his birth, he explained his unusual name, saying: "My wife's great-uncle Joe was kind of eccentric – when he was in fourth grade, he realized he didn't have a middle name, so he changed his name to J. Exton." In fact, Exton was also responsible for shaving his dad's head in 2022 for The Sympathizer, watch that moment pan out in the clip below...

Robert Downey Jr.'s kids shave his head

Exton first made an on-screen appearance during the filming of the documentary Sr. about Robert's late father, Robert Downey Sr., and has also occasionally popped up to film segments of the actor's Max reality series Downey's Dream Cars.

LATEST: Robert Downey Jr. and Ryan Gosling feature in unseen backstage photo after SAG Awards battle – check out their interaction

He told People that Exton really was a natural when it came to these kind of things, explaining: "[My wife] has raised him not to be a ham. He's not, like, putting together his audition tapes or anything. He's just a natural extrovert when he wants to be."

© Instagram

Robert and Susan's son Exton Elias Downey

He continued: "There's been a couple times when… he's wanted to participate in something I was doing. And when I ran this one by him, he said, 'Yeah, sure.' And then he came in and absolutely wiped the floor with me."

Avri Roel Downey

Robert's youngest and his only daughter with Susan, Avri Roel Downey, was born in November 2014, with a name that pays tribute to both her maternal and paternal grandparents' first names.

MORE: Robert Downey Jr. shares peek of intimate birthday celebration surrounded by rarely-seen children

© Instagram

Robert and Susan's daughter Avri Roel Downey

Avri memorably joined her older brother in shaving her dad's head back in 2022 as well, and on Downey's Dream Cars, she's just as much a performer.

While the Iron Man star stated that his daughter was "a little different" compared to Exton, he gushed that she was "off the charts in the series, too."

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