BAFTA 2024: Robert Downey Jr talks about resurrecting his 'dwindling credibility' with 'Oppenheimer' in winning speech 

Robert Downey Jr (Pic/Instagram)

Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr has been sweeping awards this season for his role in Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer'. While accepting his BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor he credited Nolan for pushing him to do the role and also summed up his journey in the movies. He said that it was Nolan's suggesting that made him attempt an understated approach to his role of Lewis Strauss in the film.

The actor was contending against names such as Robert De Niro for "Killers of the Flower Moon," Jacob Elordi for "Saltburn," Ryan Gosling for "Barbie," Paul Mescal for "All of Us Strangers" and Dominic Sessa for "The Holdovers."

Downey Jr. said, "When I was 15, I wanted to be Peter O'Toole. When I was 25, I worked for Richard Attenbourgh and Anthony Hopkins. When I was 35, I finally understood why Dickie thought Tony would be a better role model for me than Peter."

He added that when he was 42, he did two films for ‘Guy Ritchie' and "learned how to make big Hollywood movies with a civil British flare. I then played a guy named Tony in the MCU for about 12 years."

The Hollywood star continued, "And then recently, that dude Chris Nolan suggested I attempt an understated approach as a last-ditch effort to perhaps resurrect my dwindling credibility. So I share this with my fellow nominees, this has been an exceptional year."

In Nolan's epic biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who created of the world's first atomic bomb, Downey Jr. played Lewis Strauss, a high-ranking member of the US Atomic Energy Commission who became hostile to Oppenheimer and sought to prove he was disloyal to the US.

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who was named as the Best Director for the film 'Oppenheimer' at BAFTA's, in his acceptance speech said that while his movie has finished on a "dramatically necessary note of despair" he wanted to spotlight the organisations who have worked over the years to "reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world".

"In accepting this I do just want to acknowledge their efforts and point out they show the necessity and potential of efforts for peace," he added.
The director also said that it was an "incredible honour to be back home, to get this from BAFTA, in the festival hall where my mum and dad used to drag me to make me have some culture. Some of it stuck".

"It suddenly occurs to me that my younger brother beat me up here by about 40 years not because he's ever won a BAFTA but because he was part of the snowflake chorus in the 'Nutcracker' here many years ago."

He added, "I have so many people to thank for this. An incredible cast led by our peerless, fearless Cillian Murphy -- thank you Cillian, thank you to all the others, an incredible crew, many of you recognised by BAFTA with nominations tonight."