After years of arrests and drug busts, reformed Hollywood wildchild Robert Downey Jr. has rebound nicely with starring roles in hit vehicles like Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes. But will the accomplished star’s next big role come behind the camera? Robert, now 44, believes his days on the big screen are numbered and a turn as a director is in the foreseeable future.

“I will not be able to remain happy and sedate being whatever – being an increasingly hirable actor type. I think the best thing I could do for my soul and my own development would be to direct,” Robert told Esquire Magazine in its December issue. “I’m not sure exactly how things are going to shake out, because it’s really easy for me to do landgrabs with my day job, and I still have a lot of passion for it,” he continued. “But if I had to guess, that would probably be my next move.”