Robert Downey Jr. won the award for best supporting actor at the 29th edition of the Critics Choice Awards for his role in Oppenheimer. The star, 58, competed for the award against notable figures such as Sterling K. Brown for American Fiction, Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon, Ryan Gosling for Barbie, Charles Melton for May December, and Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things.
During his acceptance speech, Downey Jr. took the opportunity to humorously review some of the less favorable comments that the Critics Choice Association had issued about him in the past, mocking that they are now recognizing him as an outstanding actor. “The first (criticism) is a kind of haiku: ‘careless, messy and lazy.’ The second is more metaphorical: ‘Like Pee-wee Herman coming out of a coma.’ This one was from a Brit: ‘A baffling waste of talent.’ And finally – and this one stayed – ‘funny as flatulence locked in bed,'” said Robert Downey Jr. while the guests at the gala responded with outrageous laughter.
After making an ironic bow with which he thanked the derogatory way in which critics spoke of him in the past, Downey Jr. thanked his “Oppenhomies” for the collective work they did on the Christopher Nolan film that has become in a media phenomenon. “Every day of filming was like my ego kicked me in the butt at the door, and I don’t think it could have happened to a nicer guy,” said the actor about his experience in Oppenheimer, which also won the award for Best Ensemble.
The film that tells the life of the man known as “The Father of the Atomic Bomb” has become the highest-grossing biopic of all time. In this one, Downey Jr. plays Admiral Lewis Strauss, J. Robert Oppenheimer’s main antagonist. Downey Jr.’s character is a key piece in the plot that addresses the moral and emotional dilemmas of the creation of the atomic bomb. With this award, the actor brings his number of Critics Choice nominations to four.
Previously, the Marvel star had been nominated for best supporting actor in 2009 for Tropic Thunder and for best actor in an action film for The Avengers and Iron Man 3. Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, also competed in 12 other categories in these awards.