Robert Downey Jr. won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer. It was Downey Jr.’s third Oscar nomination after being previously nominated for Chaplin in 1993 and Tropic Thunder in 2009. As the actor finally won his much-deserved Oscar after three decades since his first nomination, fans look back at the 1993 Oscar nominees.
Downey Jr. put forth an incredible performance as Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 film, Chaplin. In any other year, the Iron Man actor could have easily won the Best Actor Award for his role. However, 1992 was a year that produced several gems of performances in cinema history.
Robert Downey Jr.’s Contenders At 1993 Oscars Show Why He Had To Wait 3 Decades To Win
Robert Downey Jr. and team Oppenheimer are on cloud nine after the film won seven Oscars including the Best Supporting Actor for him. Downey Jr. had to face off against some tough competitors in the category to win the award. The other nominees included Ryan Gosling, Sterling K. Brown, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert De Niro. However, this lineup seems like easy work for the Dolittle actor when compared to the nominees he had to face at his first Oscar nomination.
One fan shared a clip from the 1993 Oscars where the Best Actor nominees were being announced by a gorgeous Jodie Foster. The much younger Downey Jr. competed against four industry veterans and some believe that he stood no chance against them. The Sherlock Holmes actor lost the award to Al Pacino, who won it for Scent of a Woman.
when you think RDJ has competition this year just remember he had to face this in 1993 #Oscars pic.twitter.com/QEYedAqDLX
— random rdj (@robertoarchive) March 10, 2024
The other nominees were Clint Eastwood for the Oscar-winning film Unforgiven, Stephen Rea for The Crying Game, and Denzel Washington for Malcolm X. Fans acknowledged that it was a highly competitive category and that all of them were deserving of the award. One fan commented that Downey Jr. never had a prayer at the Oscars that year.
However, there were some who felt that the Oscar should have gone to one of the other actors instead of Al Pacino. Many fans suggested that Washington should have won it, while others claimed that Downey Jr. was equally strong in his performance. Some fan reactions read:
This was a tough and competitive category. All of them were deserving.
— naturistfred (@naturistfred) March 10, 2024
Facts. He never had a prayer there.
— Donny who loved bowling (@AbideBigD) March 11, 2024
Wow! What a year. Personally, I couldn't separate RDJ and Denzel. I definitely wouldn't have given Pacino the gong; not for SoaW! (That said, I think Pacino is among the greatest of all time.)
— Kym -Bid- Bidstrup (@BidKym) March 10, 2024
He was brilliant in Chaplin
— Jenboree (@jennifer_nuchia) March 10, 2024
This was Denzel’s Oscar. Period.
— мґ℮η†℮ґ†Ѧ1ηм℮η† (@MrEnterta1nment) March 10, 2024
During an interview on The View recently, Robert Downey Jr. shared that winning the 1993 Oscar would’ve been detrimental to his career. He shared that he was “young and crazy” and winning the award at that point would’ve made him feel like he “was on the right track” (via Variety). He lost the Oscar once again in 2009, this time to another great actor.
Robert Downey Jr. Lost The 2009 Oscar To Another Brilliant Actor
Things came to a full circle when Robert Downey Jr. won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor through Christopher Nolan‘s film. It was another Nolan film’s actor who nabbed the award from him in 2009. Downey Jr. stood no chance against the exceptional Heath Ledger, who received the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Dark Knight posthumously.
He was up against a pretty good lineup then too. His competitors were Josh Brolin for Milk, Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt, and Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road. The central attraction of the 2024 Oscars, Oppenheimer, is now available for streaming on Peacock Premium.
