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Robert Downey Jr
Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Netflix

What is going on with Robert Downey Jr.’s hair loss? RDJ’s bald head and hair loss, explained

Bald or bold, he pulls it off.

Robert Downey Jr. has stunned fans with a new look that channels his version of Obadiah Stane. That’s right, appearing at the Governor’s Ball with his wife Susan Downey, the Iron Man star and the former central figure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was rocking a bald head.

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Honestly, he has joined the likes of Bruce Willis in terms of being able to pull off the look, but why did the actor suddenly make the decision to let his scalp be seen by the world? Let’s take a look at what we know about the beautiful bald head of Robert Downey Jr. 

What happened to Robert Downey Jr.’s hair?

Don’t worry about Robert Downey Jr. because as far as we can tell, he is not going through anything serious – midlife crisis or serious illness included. His luscious locks did not just fall off his head, and we have the proof.

He fulfilled the wish of every child by letting his own children shave his head, turning him into the bald man we see now. And, we know this because he shared a video of the event on Instagram back in October. 

But why did the actor get his children to shave his head? For a role, of course. That’s right, Robert Downey Jr. will be appearing with a bald head in an upcoming project.

What we know about The Sympathizer and Robert Downey Junior’s role in it

The project is called The Sympathizer, and it is a television mini-series that is currently in production. The Sympathizer is based on a novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a thriller about a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy who is exiled to the United States. Park Chan-wook — known for Oldboy and Decision to Leave — will serve as one of the showrunners on the project which also stars Hoa Xuande, Nguyen Khan, Sandra Oh, Toan Le, Vy Le, and Alan Trong.

The Sympathizer is a joint production between A24 and HBO, and we do not know much about Downey Jr.’s role in the series, other than that he shaved his head for the role, and that he will seemingly play multiple characters. He is also producing this series like he produced the reboot of Perry Mason which starred Matthew Rhys as the titular lawyer. The actor is no stranger to television series, especially ones in production for HBO.

You have to admit, everyone was excited to see what the Marvel star had up his sleeve after his character’s death in Avengers: Endgame. That being said, seeing the actor shave his head was probably far down the list of what you were expecting. At least it’s for a very exciting reason!

While there is no exact release date for The Sympathizer, the show has wrapped up filming and is expected to be available to stream on Max in 2024.


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Tristyn Akbas
Tristyn Akbas is an SEO writer for We Got This Covered. He graduated from the University of New South Wales, with a Bachelor's Degree in Film and Writing. Tristyn specializes in the geekier side of writing and is always up to date on the latest movies, TV, comic books, and video games. He particularly likes anything superhero or horror-related, and in his free time, you'll find him earning PlayStation trophies.
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