Robert Downey Jr. Thanks His 'Veterinarian, I Mean Wife' Susan in Oscars Speech: 'You Loved Me Back to Life'

Robert Downey Jr. also praised the cast and crew of 'Oppenheimer' before noting that he "needed this job more than it needed me," and adding, "I stand here before you a better man because of it"

Robert Downey Jr. is an Oscar winner — but he'd be nothing without his wife Susan!

The star won Best Supporting Actor at the 2024 Oscars on Sunday for his role in Oppenheimer. With the win, Downey Jr. beat out American Fiction's Sterling K. Brown, Killers of the Flower Moon's Robert De Niro, Barbie's Ryan Gosling and Poor Things' Mark Ruffalo.

Downey Jr. was cracking jokes from the minute he took the stage, beginning his speech by saying, "I'd like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order."

He then joked, "I'd like to thank my veterinarian — I meant wife — Susan Downey over there. She found me, a snarling rescue pet, and loved me back to life. That's why I am here. Thank you."

Related: Oscars 2024 Winners List: Oppenheimer Leads with 7 Awards Followed by Emma Stone's Poor Things

Later, he thanked director Christopher Nolan, the writer, producer and director of Oppenheimer, as well as producer Emma Thomas and his costars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon.

"Here’s my little secret: I needed this job more than it needed me. Chris knew it, Emma made sure the she wrapped — surrounded me with one of the greatest cast and crews of all time," he said. "Emily, Cillian, Matt Damon ... it was fantastic and I stand here before you a better man because of it. You know, what we do is meaningful, and the stuff that we decide to make is important."

Downey Jr., 58, also thanked his stylist, publicist and entertainment lawyer, joking that his attorney of 40 years spent half of it "trying to get me insured and bailing me out." He then closed out his speech with a shoutout to his three kids Avri, Exton and Indio.

Related: Oppenheimer's Robert Downey Jr. Calls Himself 'Most Improved Player' in Golden Globes 2024 Acceptance Speech

For his performance in the biopic Oppenheimer, Downey Jr. received his third nod at the Academy Awards, last nominated in 2009 for Tropic Thunder.

Opposite Murphy, Downey Jr.’s Admiral Lewis Strauss serves as J. Robert Oppenheimer’s primary antagonist as the physicist navigates the moral and emotional dilemmas of creating the atomic bomb.

Downey Jr. recently told PEOPLE that while he was thrilled by the nomination, the true prize was spending time with the film's cast. "The reward was the experience. There is a bond and we have just huge respect for each other," Downey said of his costars.

At the film's premiere last summer, Downey Jr. proudly said about Oppenheimer: "Just going to flat-out say it — this is the best film I’ve ever been in."

Related: See the Best Dressed Stars at the 2024 Oscars

The Best Supporting Actor category with stacked with talent this year as made evident by the other nominees.

Brown, 47, landed his first Oscar nomination for his work in American Fiction. Playing the recently divorced brother of Jeffrey Wright’s Monk Ellison, the Emmy winner portrayed a newly out gay man.

In addition to Brown’s nomination, costar Wright, 58, was recognized for his leading role. The film received a total of five nods, contending for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score as well.

Related: Sterling K. Brown's This Is Us Costars React to His Oscar Nomination: 'No One More Deserving'

Director Martin Scorsese’s epic Killers of the Flower Moon sees De Niro, 80, as William King Hale, a remorseless crime boss responsible for the murders of the Osage Nation.

The Irishman actor previously won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor in 1974 for The Godfather Part II and Best Actor in 1981 for Raging Bull.

Scorsese recently told PEOPLE of the actor, "When Bob commits, he starts digging in with research, questions about absolutely everything, from what the character wears to what he eats for breakfast. The search and the discoveries never stop."

Related: Robert De Niro Narrates His Life in Pictures, From Childhood to Hollywood and Fatherhood: Video (Exclusive)

Gosling’s Kenergy garnered rave reviews after the summer blockbuster Barbie. The La La Land actor, 43, added a third Oscar nomination to his count with his role as the Mattel doll’s head-over-heels boyfriend Ken.

The star said in a previous statement about his nomination, "There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius."

Related: Ryan Gosling Flashes Barbie Pink Socks (and Some Skin) While Posing with His Family on 2024 Oscars Red Carpet

Trying to rein in the antics of Emma Stone’s Bella Baxter, Ruffalo stars as Duncan Wedderburn in director Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. The film sees Dr. Godwin Baxter’s (Willem Dafoe) childlike science experiment Bella flounce about Victorian Era London accompanied — or rather, chased — by Duncan.

The Avengers star has three previous nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars: for 2010’s The Kids Are All Right, 2014’s Foxcatcher and 2015’s Spotlight.

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The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, are airing live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

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