How Robert Downey Jr. Feels After Becoming an Oscar Winner (Exclusive)
Robert Downey Jr. says things haven't changed much for him since his 2024 Oscars win.
Talking with ET's Kevin Frazier from the premiere of his new HBO show, The Sympathizer, on Tuesday, the 59-year-old Iron Man actor and his wife, Susan Downey, joked about things being as normal as ever after he took home the Best Supporting Actor trophy for his role in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in March.
"Not really," Susan said of things being different post-win. "What's great is you win an Oscar, and the next morning, the kids are still giving him grief. Like, they don't care, you know? It's a great humility."
Robert -- who previously scored Oscar noms for Chaplin in 1993 and Tropic Thunder in 2009 -- said that for him, the key to keeping things stable is to keep his nose down, focus on the work and stay humble.
"I'll say this, it was a great season. And the best antidote to staying out of ego and all that is being involved in a project like this, like Sympathizer," Downey Jr. shared. "I think [it's] an important piece of storytelling, so I'm fortunate."
Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey at the premiere of 'The Sympathizer' in Los Angeles on April 9
The show -- an adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s homonymous novel -- is classified as an espionage thriller and "cross-culture satire" following a spy (Hoa Xuande) living in Los Angeles after the Vietnam War and his realization that his his cloak-and-dagger activities are far from done.
For his part, Robert serves as executive producer alongside Oldboy director Park Chan-Wook and plays multiple characters throughout the seven-episode miniseries, including the unsuspecting spy mentor of Xuande's protagonist. Robert said it wasn't a difficult situation for him to step into, however, as he was "in excellent company" in scenes with himself.
When asked what he thinks about the possibility that he could be looking at an Emmy nomination (and potential win) for his role in the same year that he won an Oscar, the Sherlock Holmes star kept it humble and veered credit to his co-stars.
"Great," he said of the possible double wins. "I think Kieu [Chinh] and Sandra [Oh] are the ones to keep an eye on, they're both fantastic in this. The whole cast is exceptional. In fact, I played multiple characters just so I wouldn't get lost in the shuffle of all this Vietnamese talent."
Should he pull off a nomination and win, he would join the legendary Helen Mirren who claimed both an Emmy and an Oscar within months of each other back in 2007 for The Queen and Prime Suspect: The Final Act.
Watch the trailer for The Sympathizer in the player below:
The show also stars Emmy winner Sandra Oh, Fred Nguyen Khanh, Toan Le, Phanxine, Vy Le, Ky Duyen, Kieu Chinh, Duy Nguyen and Alan Trong.
The Sympathizer premieres on HBO at 9 p.m. on April 14.
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