Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan have strict rule they follow in their marriage

The 'Oppenheimer' star and his wife Susan have been married for 18 years

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Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan have a rule that they find paramount to their successful marriage.

"We do have a two-week rule, which often feels too long, but we don't go more than two weeks without seeing each other and the family being together," Susan told People magazine, of not being apart for more than 14 days. "Fortunately, we prefer to be a traveling circus when we can be."

Married for 18 years, the couple are also producing partners at their company, Team Downey.

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Susan Downey in a plunging black dress smiles at the Vanity Fair party with husband Robert Downey in a black suit and white shirt and colored lensed sunglasses

Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan have been married for 18 years. (Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

"You keep the basic rule of two weeks, and then you don't try and think too far ahead, because so much of what we do is oddly unpredictable."

"You just never know," she continued. "Someone might get sick, or there might be a shutdown, or this or that. So you just have to have some basic things in place, and then you have to be willing to flow with the rest of it."

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Robert Downey Jr. in all black outfit looks lovingly at his wife Susan in a black strapless gown with a scarf around her neck at the Oscars

Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey don't go more than two weeks without seeing one another. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

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Susan acknowledges that her schedule is more flexible than Downey Jr.'s, which makes her work-life balance less difficult to maintain. "The good news is I'm not in front of the camera, and so as a producer I end up with a little bit more flexibility in terms of location, of where I would need to be," she shared. 

"I really admire and have a lot of empathy for couples who both have to be in front of the camera, because you get stuck, and you have to make those choices," she added.

Robert Downey Jr. in a suit points at his wife Susan in a plunging black halter gown with a flower as a belt

Robert Downey Jr. shares a son and daughter with Susan, and has another son from a previous marriage. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

And they're not just a unit of two. The couple share two children, son Exton, 12, and daughter Avri, 9. Downey Jr. also has a son, Indio, 30, with ex-wife Deborah Falconer. 

Turg his life around after years of drug abuse and time in jail, the "Oppenheimer" star, who just won his first Academy Award, values his family tremendously. 

"It just gives me, honestly, something to attach my neurosis to that's positive," he said of his wife and children.

Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Authored by Caroline Thayer via FoxNews March 14th 2024