LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Downey Jr. grew to become an Oscar winner on Sunday in a long-awaited victory for the veteran actor who obtained his first performing nod three a long time in the past.
Downey gained finest supporting actor for his portrayal of Rear Adm. Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer,” hailed as one in every of his finest performances in years.
It was the third general Oscar nod for one in every of Hollywood’s most versatile performers however whose profession has been marked by excessive setbacks.
“I’d wish to thank my horrible childhood” Downey stated in a light-hearted speech, pausing for the viewers’s laughter, “and the academy — in that order.”
He additionally gave due to his spouse, Susan. “You liked me again to life and that’s why I’m right here.”
Downey has been open about his previous struggles with drug habit. He revealed in his 2022 documentary “Sr.,” which pays tribute to his filmmaker father, that he was hooked on medicine by age 8.
A sequence of arrests for drug-related fees and a 12 months in jail adopted Downey’s first Oscar nod 30 years in the past, when he was 28.
The actor stated lately on “The View” that he’s grateful he didn’t find yourself profitable in 1993 for finest actor for “Chaplin.”
“I used to be younger and loopy,” he stated. “It will have put me beneath the impression that I used to be heading in the right direction.”
Downey additionally obtained an Oscar nod in 2008 for a supporting position in “Tropic Thunder.”
Sunday’s win solidified Downey’s frontrunner standing this awards season. He additionally took dwelling the highest honor for supporting actor on the Golden Globes, BAFTA Movie Awards, SAG Awards and Critics Selection Awards.
“Why me? Why now? Why do issues appear to be going my method?” he stated whereas accepting his SAG Award.
Downey beat Sterling Okay. Brown for “American Fiction,” Ryan Gosling for “Barbie,” Mark Ruffalo for “Poor Issues” and Robert De Niro for “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
“Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s three-hour deep dive into the event and fallout of the atomic bomb throughout World Warfare II, gained seven Oscars on Sunday, together with finest image, finest director for Nolan and finest actor for Cillian Murphy. The movie entered the evening with 13 nominations.
“What we do is significant,” Downey stated onstage Sunday, “and the stuff we resolve to make is necessary.”
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