Gwyneth Paltrow was in hair and makeup at home during the 2024 Oscars, but she made sure not to miss the chance to see her longtime Marvel co-star Robert Downey Jr. win his first Academy Award. Paltrow shared a video to her Instagram story as she rejoiced over Downey taking home the Oscar for best supporting actor thanks to his acclaimed role in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” She watched the moment on her laptop. As they say in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: “Whatever it takes.”
Paltrow is an Oscar winner herself, having won the best actress trophy at the 1999 Academy Awards for her role in “Shakespeare in Love.” She’s been friends with Downey for well over a decade, after the two were cast as Tony Stark and Pepper Potts in 2008’s “Iron Man,” which kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They went on to headline two more standalone “Iron Man” films together and appeared side by side in several other Marvel films, from “Spider-Man: Homecoming” to “Avengers: Infinity War” and more.
“Oppenheimer” marked the third Oscar nomination of Downey’s career. He was previously nominated for best actor (“Chaplin”) and best supporting actor (“Tropic Thunder”). His win this year completed an awards season sweep, as he not only won best supporting actor at the Oscars but also at the Golden Globes, Critic’s Choice Awards, SAG Awards and BAFTA Film Awards.
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“I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy — in that order,” Downey quipped at the start of his Oscar acceptance speech, before throwing in another joke. “I’d like to thank my veterinarian — I meant wife, Susan Downey, over there. She found me a snarling rescue pet and you loved me back to life. That’s why I’m here.”
Downey also offered his thanks to his “Oppenheimer” collaborators, including director Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and his co-stars and fellow Oscar nominees Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt.
“Here’s my little secret. I needed this job more than it needed me. Chris knew it. Emma made sure that she surrounded me with one of the great casts and crews of all time — Emily, Cillian. It was fantastic. And I stand here before you a better man because of it,” Downey continued. “What we do is meaningful, and the stuff that we decide to make is important.”
Both Paltrow and Downey last appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which notably featured the death of Downey’s Iron Man. During a Q&A with fans on Instagram last year, Paltrow said her time with Marvel was probably over because “why do you need Pepper Potts without Iron Man?”
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in December that he won’t be asking Downey to return to the MCU either as to preserve Tony Stark’s emotional ending. “We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way,” he said.
After partnering with Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer,” Downey next teams up with Park Chan-wook for the HBO limited series “The Sympathizer.” The drama kicks off April 14 on HBO.
