Robert Downey Jr. won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Christopher Nolan’s film “Oppenheimer.” The night completed an awards season sweep for the star, as his Oscar win joined his previous supporting actor’s wins at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, SAG Awards and BAFTA Movie Awards.
“I would like to thank my terrible childhood and my academics — in that order,” Downey joked at the beginning of his speech, before making another joke. “I’d like to thank my vet — I mean, my wife, Susan Downey, over there. She found me a snarling pet and loved me back to life. That’s why I’m here.”
Downey also thanked his collaborators on “Oppenheimer,” including director Nolan, producer Emma Thomas, and his co-stars and fellow Oscar nominees Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt.
“That’s my little secret. I needed this job more than it needed me. Chris knew that. (Producer Emma Thomas) made sure she surrounded me with one of the greatest cast and crew ever – Emily, Cillian. She was amazing. And I stand up,” Downey continued. Here you have a better man because of it.” “What we do has meaning, and the things we decide to do matter.”
“Entertainment lawyer Tom Hanson, 40 years old, spent half of it trying to get me insurance and save me from injustice – thank you, brother,” Downey concluded his speech. The actor also thanked the hairstylist, publicist and director during his speech.
Downey has dominated award shows this season with his engaging speeches when accepting the award. At the Critics’ Choice Awards, he decided to read directly from the reviews he’s gotten over the years that haven’t been exactly kind to him.
“I was thinking this morning: I love critics,” Downey said sarcastically. “They have given me very lovely comments, actually many wonderful moments, some of which have been very poetic, I just want to share some of their thoughts with you over the years.”
“The first is kind of like haiku: ‘Dirty, messy, and lazy,’” he continued, “and the next is more metaphorical: ‘Like Pee-Wee Herman coming out of a coma.’” This was from a Brit: “A bewildering waste of talent.” Finally, this sentence remained: “As entertaining as a fart locked in bed.”
At the BAFTA Film Awards, Downey Jr. made headlines for thanking Nolan for casting him and restoring some of his credibility after spending more than a decade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Iron Man/Tony Stark.
“When I was 15, I wanted to be Peter O’Toole. When I was 25, I worked for Richard Attenburg and Anthony Hopkins. When I was 35, I finally understood why Dickie thought Tony would be a better role model for me than Peter. “When I was 42, I made two Guy Ritchie films and learned how to make big Hollywood films with an urban British touch. Then I played a guy named Tony in the MCU for about 12 years. Recently, that guy Chris Nolan suggested I try a minimalist approach as perhaps a last ditch effort to revive my waning credibility. So I share this with my fellow nominees, this has been an exceptional year.
Downey Jr. was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor alongside Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction,” Robert De Niro, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Ryan Gosling, “Barbie,” and Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things.” Downey Jr. has been so dominant in the season that Brown said last month that he knew he would lose the Oscar to the “Oppenheimer” star.