KUALA LUMPUR – American actor Robert Downey Jr wins his first Academy Award for best supporting actor for playing the antagonist in Oppenheimer.
Downey bested two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), heart-throb Ryan Gosling (Barbie), Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things) and Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction).
When accepting the statuette, he thanked his “terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order”.
He also mentioned his “veterinarian… sorry… wife, Susan Downey”.
“She found me a snarling refuge pet and loved me back to life. That’s why I’m here. My little secret… I needed this job more than it needed me … I stand here before you a better man because of it.”
Robert Downey Jr. thanks his "terrible childhood" and the Academy in his #Oscars acceptance speech. https://t.co/UNgGySGz3r pic.twitter.com/SSJd8yMskz
— Variety (@Variety) March 11, 2024
After more than a decade playing Marvel’s blockbuster character Tony Stark/Iron Man, Downey took on the role of Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss in Oppneheimer, which is a drastic change of tone compared to his most recent movies.
The superstar has been the favourite this year, bagging awards from the Golden Globes, Bafta, and Screen Actors Guild.
He was previously nominated for best actor in 1993 for Chaplin, and for best supporting actor in 2009 for Tropic Thunder.
Best supporting actress
Meanwhile, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, 37, wins the Oscar for best supporting actress for her heart-wrenching performance in The Holdovers. She plays boarding school cafeteria manager Mary Lamb, who is dealing with grief after her son’s death in the Vietnam War.
“I didn’t think I was supposed to be doing this as a career. I started off as a singer.
“My mother said to me, ‘Go across that street to that theatre department. There’s something for you there’. And I thank my mother for that,” she said in her acceptance speech.
Philadelphia-born Randolph was the frontrunner this year, bagging a Golden Globe, a Bafta and a Screen Actors Guild trophy, among others for her role.
Today, she also bested two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster (Nyad), Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), America Ferrera (Barbie) and Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple). – March 11, 2024