His filmography is extensive, running from 1970 and into present day, but it was only at the 96th Academy Awards that Robert Downey Jr. won his very first Oscar. RDJ, as he’s sometimes referred to, beat out Robert De Niro, Ryan Gosling, Sterling K. Brown, and Mark Ruffalo to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and he celebrated by thanking his “terrible childhood.”
After some solid early successes became eclipsed by drug-related problems and clashes with the law, Downey enjoyed a decent comeback in the early 2000s that grew exponentially as the decade – decades, now – went on. It has now culminated in Downey winning his first Oscar for Oppenheimer, presented to him by fellow Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan.
Robert Downey Jr. thanks his terrible childhood as he accepts his very first Oscar win
It would be a unqiue cultural phenomenon like Oppenheimer to break Downey’s no-Oscar win streak, as it was paired together with the equally titanic Barbie to create the Barbenheimer craze last summer. In keeping with these unprecedented times, Downey delivered what was probably a surprising speech to the 1.1 million who tuned in for the 2024 Oscars.
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“I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order,” said Downey. “I’d like to thank my veterinarian — I mean 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. Thank you.”
Entertainment Weekly notes this is also the very first time a former Saturday Night Live cast member has won an Oscar.
Tools of the trade
Downey also gave credit to Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan, as well as producer Emma Thomas, and co-stars Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy. Again, there was a note of self-deprecation in his words.
“Here’s my little secret. I needed this job more than it needed me,” he said. “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. What we do is meaningful, and the stuff that we decide to make is important.”
Both of Downey’s parents were in the entertainment industry, with his father a filmmaker and his mother an actress starring in his films. But their projects’ success or failure meant the family had periods of wealth or periods of poverty, giving Downey a volatile childhood. All the while, Downey spent his childhood “surrounded by drugs.” The first time Downey did drugs was when he was eight, and he further recalled, “When my dad and I would do drugs together, it was like him trying to express his love for me in the only way he knew how.” Downey’s relationship with drugs would be messy for years to come before a five-year stretch of abuse, legal trouble, rehab, and relapse, after April 2001, Downey committed to getting and staying clean; he has been drug-free since 2003.