Former troubled actor Robert Downey, Jr. blames his role in 1980s cult film Less Than Zero for fueling his drug addiction.

The 43-year-old insists he only took drugs recreationally before he was cast as a cocaine addict in the 1987 film based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis.

Soon after completing the movie, Downey Jr's substance abuse worsened and he was jailed at California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran for a year for missing mandatory court-imposed drug tests.

He says, "Until that movie I took my drugs after work and on the weekends. That changed on Less Than Zero. The role was like the ghost of Christmas Future. I became an exaggeration of the character."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)