Current:Home > Contact-usRobert Downey Jr. wins supporting actor and his first Oscar for ‘Oppenheimer’-LoTradeCoin
Robert Downey Jr. wins supporting actor and his first Oscar for ‘Oppenheimer’
View Date:2024-12-23 15:06:38
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three decades after receiving his first Academy Award nomination, Robert Downey Jr. has won his first Oscar.
Downey won best supporting actor on Sunday for his portrayal of Rear Adm. Lewis Strauss in “Oppenheimer,” hailed as one of Downey’s best performances in years.
It was the third career Oscar nomination for a veteran actor known as one of Hollywood’s most versatile performers but before Sunday had never won an Academy Award. He was nominated in 1993 for best actor for “Chaplin” and in 2008 for best supporting actor in “Tropic Thunder.”
Downey gave a light-hearted speech as he accepted his award.
“I’d like to thank my terrible childhood” he said, pausing for the audience’s laughter, “and the academy, in that order.”
He also thanked his wife, Susan. “You loved me back to life and that’s why I’m here.”
“Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s three-hour deep dive into the development and fallout of the atomic bomb during World War II, led the Academy Awards with 13 nominations.
Downey beat Sterling K. Brown for “American Fiction,” Ryan Gosling for “Barbie,” Mark Ruffalo for “Poor Things” and Robert De Niro for “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
The win solidified Downey’s frontrunner status this awards season. He also took home the top honor for supporting actor at the Golden Globes, BAFTA Film Awards, SAG Awards and Critics Choice Awards.
“Why me? Why now? Why do things seem to be going my way?” he said while accepting his SAG Award.
Downey has been open about his past struggles with drug addiction. He revealed in his 2022 documentary “Sr.,” which pays tribute to his filmmaker father, that he was addicted to drugs by age 8.
A series of arrests for drug-related charges and a year in prison followed Downey’s first Oscar nod 30 years ago, when he was 28.
The actor said recently that he’s grateful he didn’t end up winning in 1993.
“I was young and crazy,” he said on “The View.” “It would have put me under the impression that I was on the right track.”
___
For more coverage of the 2024 Oscars, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards
veryGood! (42)
Related
- Horoscopes Today, November 11, 2024
- 'Peanuts' character Franklin, originating amid the Civil Rights Movement, is getting the spotlight
- The Daily Money: Now might be a good time to rent
- Feds charge Minnesota man who they say trained with ISIS and threatened violence against New York
- Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio charged with operating vehicle while intoxicated
- Taylor Swift donates $100,000 to family of woman killed in Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting
- J.Lo can't stop telling us about herself. Why can't I stop watching?
- Trump rails against New York fraud ruling as he faces fines that could exceed half-a-billion dollars
- The Daily Money: Inflation is still a thing
- A Deep Dive Into the 9-Month Ultimate World Cruise
Ranking
- Worker trapped under rubble after construction accident in Kentucky
- NHL Stadium Series times, live stream, TV for Flyers vs. Devils, Rangers vs. Islanders
- A Guide to Teen Mom Alum Kailyn Lowry's Sprawling Family Tree
- TikToker Teresa Smith Dead at 48 After Cancer Battle
- Mega Millions winning numbers for November 8 drawing: Jackpot rises to $361 million
- Here’s a look inside Donald Trump’s $355 million civil fraud verdict as an appeals fight looms
- An ecstatic Super Bowl rally, upended by the terror of a mass shooting. How is Kansas City faring?
- You Won't Be Able to Get These Photos of Lenny Kravitz Off Your Mind
Recommendation
-
Nicky Hilton Shares Her Christmas Plans With Paris, the Secret To Perfect Skin & More Holiday Gift Picks
-
Ukrainian man pleads guilty in cyberattack that temporarily disrupted major Vermont hospital
-
TikToker Teresa Smith Dead at 48 After Cancer Battle
-
Psst! Lululemon’s Align Leggings Are $39 Right Now, Plus More Under $40 Finds You Don’t Want to Miss
-
NBA today: Injuries pile up, Mavericks are on a skid, Nuggets return to form
-
Kansas and North Carolina dropping fast in latest men's NCAA tournament Bracketology
-
Spring sports tryout tips: Be early, be prepared, be confident
-
NBA All-Star 3-point contest 2024: Time, how to watch, participants, rules