Robert Downey Jr. to Win an Oscar for Oppenheimer... Thanks to His Partying?
Sometimes, winning an Oscar is about more than just acting. Sometimes, it’s about… Bumping into the right person at a party.
Summary:
- In the movie industry, knowing the right people is crucial, and the Oscar’s is not an exception.
- An anonymous jury member revealed they’d vote for Downey Jr. for Best Supporting Actor.
- Their reason is not as much about the star’s acting as about bumping into Downey Jr. at a party.
In Hollywood, it’s about as much about your talent as it is about who you know; this uncomfortable truth is rarely brought up, but it’s the truth nonetheless. However, it’s hard to imagine that even at the Oscars, bumping into the right person at a party can mean the difference between winning or losing the vote. Apparently, that’s how it is!
Oscar’s Jury Member Got Candid about the Vote
Recently, THR spoke to an anonymous “member of the Academy's short films and feature animation branch” about their personal views on the 2023 movies and winners. The jury member went through each award category and explained why they’d vote for this or that movie, and their reasons were not always… Objective.
For instance, Robert Downey Jr. will get their vote not for his acting alone.
“[In the Best Supporting Actor category,] I was torn between Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr., and even though it’s cheesy, I’ll be real with you: I met Downey at an awards season party, we had an interaction that I did not initiate, and it tipped the scales for me. Campaigning matters,” the jury member laughed.
Is bumping into each other at a party at the right time an objectively solid reason to give a vote to someone in an event as significant as the Academy Awards? It’s definitely not. Will Downey Jr. get this member’s vote nonetheless? He definitely will.
Robert Downey Jr. Was Brilliant in Oppenheimer
Regardless of anyone’s subjective views, the talk of Downey Jr. getting the Best Supporting Actor award this year has been going strong ever since Oppenheimer’s premiere. The Iron Man star delivered a brilliant performance portraying Lewis Strauss, and he seems to be one of the strongest contestants for the award.
Even the jury member that spoke to THR pointed out Downey Jr.’s performance in the end, admitting they “loved watching [Robert] turn as the story turned on Strauss.” We’re all for Robert Downey Jr. getting awarded for his performance, don’t get us wrong; but in this case, such an approach to judgment is unfair toward Mark Ruffalo who just didn’t happen to be in the right place at the right time.
Source: THR