Robert Downey Jr. Reveals He's Glad He Lost Best Actor Oscar in 90s

The nominees for the 96th Academy Awards were announced this week, and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer scored 13 nominations. One of the film's frontrunners is Robert Downey Jr., who is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lewis Strauss. The Oscars will see Downey Jr. going up against Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things), Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Ryan Gosling (Barbie), and Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon). Considering the other awards Downey Jr. has won this season, there's a very good chance he'll be taking home the gold. This nod marks the third time Downey Jr. has been nominated by the Academy. He received a Best Actor nod for Chaplin (1992) and a Best Supporting Actor nod for Tropic Thunder (2008). While appearing on The View, the star explained why he's glad he didn't win the award back in 1993.

"I was young and crazy," Downey Jr. said, explaining that winning an Oscar at 28 years old "would have put me under the impression that I was on the right track." 

Downey Jr. struggled with addiction and was arrested in 1996 for possession of heroin, cocaine, and an unloaded gun. The actor was given three years of probation but ended up in jail for four months after missing a court-ordered drug test. After skipping another test in 1999, he was sentenced to three years in prison and served for 15 months. The actor went to rehab in 2003 and has maintained his sobriety for nearly 20 years. 

Will Robert Downey Jr. Play Iron Man Again?

Downey Jr. played Tony Stark/Iron Man starting in 2008 in Iron Man until the character's death in Avengers: Endgame in 2019. There's been a lot of speculation about whether or not the MCU will revive Downey Jr.'s character with rumors swirling that the original six Avengers will once again return to the franchise. Previously, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said Downey Jr. was "part of the family," but when it comes to his return, "we'll have to see." However, the producer sang a different tune in a recent Vanity Fair profile on the actor. 

"We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again," Feige shared. "We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way."

"We'd already said tearful goodbyes on the last day of shooting. Everybody had moved on emotionally," Avengers: Endgame co-director Joe Russo added. "We promised him it would be the last time we made him do it- ever."

While it's not surprising to hear there are no plans to resurrect Tony Stark, that doesn't necessarily mean fans won't be seeing Downey Jr. in the MCU again. There are plenty of rumors and theories about Avengers: Secret Wars, including the idea that an alternate version of Tony Stark from another universe could appear in the film. Of course, it's also worth noting that when it comes to the MCU, many of the people involved are known for lying, so you never really know who could be popping up.

Are you rooting for Robert Downey Jr. this awards season? Tell us in the comments!