Robert Downey Jr. remarked on his rough upbringing while accepting the Best Supporting Actor award at Sunday’s Oscars.
Turning to black humor, the “Oppenheimer” stand-out smirked as he told audiences, “I would like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order.”
He went on to compare himself to a stray dog, jokingly calling his wife, Susan Downey, a veterinarian.
“She found me a snarling rescue pet, and you loved me back to life,” Downey Jr. said. “That’s why I’m here. Thank you.”
He continued with a shoutout for director Christopher Nolan and his producing partner and wife, Emma Thomas.
“Here’s my little secret,” the “Iron Man” actor admitted. “I needed this job more than it needed me. Chris knew it. Emma made sure that she surrounded me with one of the greatest cast and crews of all time: Emily, Cillian, Matt Damon, Blunt.”
“It was fantastic,” Downey Jr. continued. “And I stand here before you a better man because of it. You know, what we do is meaningful, and the stuff that we decide to make is important.”
While Downey Jr. was a favorite coming into the awards, he had some serious competition. Also nominated for Best Supporting Actor was Robert De Niro for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Mark Ruffalo for “Poor Things,” Sterling K. Brown in “American Fiction,” and “Barbie’s” Ryan Gosling.
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