After prematurely announcing the wrong Robert by way of a lazy-tongued Tim Robbins, the Academy fulfilled one of its many prophecies and bestowed the one and only Robert Downey Jr. with his first Oscar earlier this evening.
Indeed, the crown jewel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe walked off stage with a statuette in his hands for the first time thanks to his tour-de-force turn in Oppenheimer, where he played the vindicative Lewis Strauss with some of the most gumptious venom to grace the silver screen last year.
So, where exactly does this win land in Downey Jr.’s accolade résumé?
How many Academy Awards has Robert Downey Jr. won?
Downey Jr.’s win in Oppenheimer marks the first Academy Award win for the actor in his career, who has previously been nominated twice before; once for his portrayal of Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder (which, like Oppenheimer, earned him a Best Supporting Actor nod) and for his role as the titular silent film icon in Chaplin (for which he was nominated for Best Actor).
The shoes of Lewis Strauss have also earned him a Golden Globe and a BAFTA, and, as implied above, has put the actor in the illustrious category of performers with three or more Oscar nominations; an honor he shares with fellow nominee and Barbenheimer rival Ryan Gosling.
Downey Jr. was nominated alongside the likes of Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flowers Moon), and Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things). It was one of seven awards won by Oppenheimer that night, alongside wins for Editing, Cinematography, Original Score, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Director (Christopher Nolan), and Best Picture.