Robert Downey Jr. has traded an iron suit for Oscar gold.
The actor took home best supporting actor at the Oscars 2024 for his work as in Oppenheimer as Lewis Strauss, with the win marking a high point in a career full of dramatic twists and turns.
“I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy in that order,” Downey began his speech, to laughs. “I’d like to thank my veterinarian — I mean wife, Susan Downey, over there. She found me a snarly, rescue pet and you loved me back to life. That’s why I’m here.”
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After rising to earn a best actor nomination for the Charlie Chaplin biopic Chaplin (1992), Downey went on to earn a Golden Globe for his work on the hit TV hit Ally McBeal, but faced a career implosion following drug charges and time in prison. But then, his career had an improbable second act that began in 2008, with the one-two punch of Iron Man and Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder, which earned him a supporting actor nomination for the role of Kirk Lazarus, a method actor who went to controversial extremes for his work. The role of Tony Stark/Iron Man, meanwhile, made Downey one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood and his work propelled the Marvel Cinematic Universe to become the highest grossing film franchise in history. Oppenheimer granted Downey a third act, following his retirement from Marvel with 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
In his speech, he thanked Oppenheimer filmmaker Christopher Nolan and producer Emma Thomas.
“I needed this job more than it needed me. Chris knew it. Emma made sure she surrounded me with one of the greatest casts and crew of all time,” said Downey.
After thanking his publicist, agent and stylist, he thanked one more person: “My entertainment lawyer, Tom Hansen, of 40 years. The half of which he’s spent trying to get me insured and bailing me out of the hoosegow, thanks bro!”
Downey prevailed over Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), Ryan Gosling (Barbie) and Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things). See the star-studded Oscars red carpet 2024 arrivals here.
