Robert Downey Jr. just added another trophy to his collection. The Oppenheimer actor took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars, completing his awards-season sweep. (The actor also won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics' Choice Movie Award.) He beat out some stiff competition from his fellow nominees: Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), Ryan Gosling (Barbie), and Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things). Tonight's win also marks Downey Jr.'s first-ever Academy Award.
"I'd like to thank my terrible childhood, and the Academy, in that order," Downey Jr. joked in his acceptance speech. "Here's my little secret: I needed this job more than it needed me." He also thanked his wife of almost 20 years, Susan Downey Jr., for her support. Messi, our favorite dog from Anatomy of a Fall, put his paws together for the actor as well.
In Oppenheimer, Downey Jr. played Lewis Strauss, who was an original member of the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and a political opponent of J. Robert Oppenheimer. In the film, Strauss openly challenges Oppenheimer's past ties to Communism and continues to advocate for the hydrogen bomb. "I had a previous fair understanding of Strauss because I was fascinated with the mechanics of warfare, particularly in the Pacific theater in World War II," Downey Jr. told Vulture last summer. "I challenged a little bit the Mozart-Salieri of it all. I said, I’m not sure in some ways that Strauss isn’t a bit the hero here, which kind of raised an eyebrow."
The former Marvel actor also was the butt of a few jokes during Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue. "He’s so handsome and talented, he’s won every award there is to win," Kimmel said. "And is that an acceptance speech in your pocket or do you just have a very rectangular penis?" Graciously, the actor was a good sport.
Downey Jr. was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 2009, for his role as Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder. He was also nominated for Best Actor in 1993 for Chaplin. But Downey Jr. finally took home the little golden man tonight, thanks to Oppenheimer's awards-show dominance. The Christopher Nolan-directed film is also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Original Score.
