Robert Downey Jr. recently reflected on his first Academy Award nomination in the Best Actor category, expressing relief that he did not win. He was nominated for his role as Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 film “Chaplin.” At the time, Downey was 28 years old and believed that winning the award would have given him the impression that he was on the right track. However, he eventually lost to Al Pacino, who won for his role in “Scent of a Woman.”
Downey was nominated again in 2009 for his supporting role in “Tropic Thunder,” but lost to Heath Ledger, who portrayed the Joker in “The Dark Knight.” In a 2010 interview with British GQ, Downey predicted that he would eventually win an Academy Award, stating that he would end up with a bunch of them as they would run out of people to give them to. He also acknowledged that he might win in a year when someone else deserves it, but believed that was the way things worked in Hollywood.
Downey emphasized that not winning an Oscar did not cause him physical pain, but rather psychological turmoil and a lack of understanding. He admitted that there was a time when he thought winning certain awards was the only way out of his troubles.
