Robert Downey Jr Gets Standing Ovation As He Wins Golden Globe For Oppenheimer; Speech Goes Viral

Golden Globes 2024: Hollywood superstar Robert Downey Jr on Sunday (Monday in India) won Best Supporting Actor award at the Golden Globes for Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed movie Oppenheimer. Downey Jr. played Lewis Strauss in Nolan’s biopic of the titular physicist (Cillian Murphy). Lewis Strauss played a significant role in the development of the atomic bomb and later became a political rival of J Robert Oppenheimer. Downey Jr received a standing ovation as he walked onto the stage to receive his award.

“Yeah, yeah, I took a beta blocker so this will be a breeze,” Downey Jr joked while accepting the Golden Globe. The actor said he was glad Universal “went all in” for Nolan and crew to “render a goddamn masterpiece.” He called it the “most improved” award and thanked his wife Susan, who “made an art out of extracting me from my comfort zone.”

Most recently, Robert Downey Jr likened his role in Oppenheimer to his stint as Iron Man. “There have been three times in my career when I became completely obsessed with the possibility of playing a role,” he told W Magazine. “First time was Chaplin. Second time was Tony Stark, in Iron Man.”

“And the third time – I got the trifecta, and you’re lucky if this happens a couple of times – was with Lewis Strauss, for Oppenheimer. I knew a little bit about my character because I’m kind of a Cold War enthusiast. I don’t know why I’ve been obsessed with it… I think that, sadly, that period informs where we are nowadays in the world. I knew that Strauss was involved in the development of the proximity fuse and that he headed up the Atomic Energy Commission.”

Earlier, Downey had also revealed that the biopic was the “best film” he had worked on during his career.