
Robert Downey Jr. got in shape because he got sick. The 44-year-old actor has had to get fit for his action-packed roles in 'Iron Man 2' and 'Sherlock Holmes' and although he has been exercising regularly an illness he picked up in Japan kick-started his weight loss. He is quoted as saying: "I was in Japan promoting 'Iron Man', and I went to a restaurant where I contracted a parasite and got really sick for three days. "I started losing weight and thought to myself, 'Hey this is a nice jump-start!' It just gave me a nice little head-start with the first five pounds and then I kept going until I was thin, I felt as though I may float away"...more...