Robert Downey Jr. best known as the legendary Iron Man, has recently shared his alternate career paths.

Before Downey rose to fame with his breakthrough role in Less Than Zero (1987), the actor tried his luck in some unconventional career paths.

The Sherlock Holmes actor recently received the Maltin Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where he got candid with Leonard Maltin and revealed his early job experiences.

“Well, I worked at a sandwich shop. I worked at a shoe store, but I had sticky fingers and I got fired after two weeks.”

“I was not very good at it”, he humorously added.

The 58 year old actor also shared insight into his short-lived retail stint in Thrifty’s and later in the club, “I made it to busboy, but I didn’t really have the panache to be a waiter”, before he found his way to theatre.

With his father being a successful film director (Robert Downey Sr.), Maltin asked if he owes his career’s success to ‘destiny’, to which Downey replied, “Yeah, I think this is what I was supposed to do.”

Robert Downey Jr. made his debut at age 5, in his father’s film Pound (1979) before establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s most celebrated artists.

Since then, he has graced various acclaimed projects and bagged numerous accolades including the prestigious Maltin Modern Master Award which honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the motion picture industry.