The ‘Oppenheimer’ Oscar nominee says winning at an early age “would have put me under the impression that I was on the right track”

Robert Downey Jr. (left) in 2023; Robert Downey Jr. in 1992’s ‘Chaplin’. Photo:

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; Studio Canal/Shutterstock

Robert Downey Jr., fresh off his Oscar nomination for Oppenheimer, is looking back on the film that started it all.

In an interview with the co-hosts of The View posted Wednesday, the Iron Man actor, 58, revealed that he’s relieved to have not won his first of three Academy Award nominations for playing Charlie Chaplin in 1992’s Chaplin.

“I was young and crazy,” Downey Jr. said when asked about losing that race to Scent of a Woman’s Al Pacino.

Winning at only age 28, he told Joy Behar with a wry smile, “would have put me under the impression that I was on the right track.”

Turning to co-host Whoopi Goldberg, his costar in the 1991 comedy Soapdish, he added, “Whoopi remembers.”

Robert Downey Jr. at the 2024 Golden Globes.

CBS

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“We were on those tracks together,” agreed Goldberg, 68.

Following his first Oscar nod, Downey Jr. was arrested and jailed multiple times over drug-related charges in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has spoken out about his sobriety and struggles with addiction, calling his early career era “30 years of dependency, depravity and despair.”

In a clip from his appearance on The View posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), the actor also shared his reaction to Oppenheimer’s success among the 96th Academy Award nominations, announced Tuesday. “I was just so happy for all 13 nominations,” he said, adding he “couldn’t believe that it was Emily Blunt’s first Oscar nomination.”