On March 10th, 2024, during the 96th Oscar celebration, after 3 Oscar nominations in his whole career, Robert Downey Junior won best supporting actor for his role of Lewis Strauss in the movie Oppenheimer. 

During his acceptance speech, Robert said “I’d like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy in that order,” which brought a lot of empathy from the public.

From substance abuse to prison time to rehab, the 58-year-old actor had to go through a lot before finally winning this prize. He has been open about his past struggle with drug addiction and revealed in his 2022 documentary “Sr.”, which is about his filmmaker dad, that he was addicted to drugs by the age of 8.

In 1999, after a lot of in and out of rehab, he was sentenced to 36 months in state prison where he served 12 months before being paroled. He was arrested two more times within eight months before getting sent to rehab for 6 months. He calls this part of his life ” the rock bottom,” when he reached his lowest point of addiction, lost his wife and almost his career.

He also said during his speech: “ I’d like to thank my veterinarian, I meant 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.” 

Not only was it a first for him but it was also the first time that a ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast member won an Oscar. Before doing movies, Downey was a main cast member of the 11th season of the famous American late-night comedy show from to 1985 to 1986.

Even after a rough life, he was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and as Hollywood’s highest-paid actor by Forbes.