The 'Summer of Downey'

After "many long, cold, hard winters," it's finally the "summer of Downey," writes Erik Hedegaard in Rolling Stone. The success of Iron Man has turned the 43-year-old mercurial actor into a certified mega-star, raising the question of how he will deal with it all. "I'm between two phases right now, and the transition can be tricky," said Downey, whose past drug problems were a tabloid fantasy. "As long as I don't forget the past, I'm cool."

His performance alongside Ben Stiller and Jack Black in the upcoming Tropic Thunder, in which Downey "pretty much steals the show," might help solidify his newfound status. "We all have our demons and stuff, but I've never seen any one get lit for the acting moment as much as him," writes Stiller.
(More Robert Downey Jr. stories.)