Robert Downey Jr. took home Best Supporting Actor Sunday night, during the 96th Academy Awards. It’s a fitting capper to a stellar year for the industry veteran, clinching his first win after three nominations over a 30-year period.
In his speech, Downey Jr.—who played seedy government official Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer—delighted the audience with his signature snark, thanking “my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order,” before going to highlight his “veterinarian—I meant, wife, Susan Downey.”
But from there, the actor toed into more earnest territory. “She found me, a snarling rescue pet, and you loved me back to life. That’s why I’m here.
“Here’s my little secret: I needed this job more than it needed me,” he went on, about his work in Oppenheimer. “Chris knew it. I stand here before you a better man because of it.”
And then, the jokes again: “Back to my publicist,” he added, a quick nod to Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s win at the top of the night.
Downey Jr. wrapped with a final semi-sincere, self-deprecating goof, as is his wont. “I’m just going to say this: My entertainment lawyer—Tom Hansen—of 40 years, the half of which he spent trying to get me insured and bailing me out of the hoosegow, thanks bro!”
In introducing the category, this year’s ceremony brought back a well-liked conceit: previous acting winners fêting each nominee with personal speeches. Presenting the award was last year’s winner, Ke Huy Quan, who took home the trophy for his work in Everything Everywhere All at Once. And Sam Rockwell, who won the award for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri toasted Downey Jr. with a typically wry wit.
“He always goes above and beyond,” he said. “Thirty years ago, as Chaplin, he learned to play the violin with his left hand. Now, in Oppenheimer, he steals scenes from Einstein and the atomic bomb.”
He continued on, “I love him, you love him, and we couldn’t be happier for this third Oscar for his amazing portrayal as Lewis Strauss.”
Downey Jr.’s previous nomination in the category was in 2008, for Tropic Thunder; he memorably played “a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude” in Ben Stiller’s war flick satire. He also received a Best Actor for 1993’s Chaplin, playing the venerate filmmaker and performer.
Most excitingly for comedy fans is this funny bit of trivia: Downey Jr. is the first former Saturday Night Live cast member to win an Oscar for acting. (Downey Jr. lasted a single season on the show during the show’s turbulent ’80s.)
The Oppenheimer star’s fellow Supporting Actor nominees this year were Ryan Gosling (Barbie), Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), and Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction). But Downey Jr. was the frontrunner for much of the awards season, often pegged by Oscars prognosticators as neck-and-neck with Gosling.
Oppenheimer received 12 other nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for co-star Cillian Murphy. Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic of the infamous physicist has won the top prize at several precursors, including the BAFTAs and Golden Globes—making it a strong pick for Best Picture, should you still be filling out your ballot.
