Robert Downey Jr says he doesn’t care about winning Oscars

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Robert Downey Jr. is the December cover boy for GQ UK, all to promote Due Date. Due Date was a solid success in its American debut weekend, earning $33.5 million and coming in second place, behind Megamind. So… basically, everything RDJ touches turns to gold at this point. In some of the excerpts from the cover interview, RDJ talks about a potential Oscar win, and how much he enjoyed working with Zach Galifianakis.

Robert Downey Jr has predicted that he will be the undeserving winner of numerous Academy Awards in the future. The Due Date star, who has received two Oscar nominations for his work in 1992 biopic Chaplin and 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder, joked that he will eventually win big when there is nobody left to oppose him.

“As long as I stick around, I’m going to end up with a bunch of them anyway as they’re going to run out of people to give them to,” he told GQ.

“And I’m probably going to win it one year when someone else deserves to win it. Why? Because it’s my time. And that’s the way s**t works around here. I’m just an uptight mutt at the top of his game.”

However, Downey Jr insisted that he is no longer bitter about his losses and doesn’t care if he ever receives recognition from the Academy.

“I want to qualify that there is no physical pain in not winning something. There is psychological turmoil and lack of understanding, but what is really going on here? I can lie, and pretend I worry but I don’t care. Honestly.”

He continued: “There was a time when I thought the only way out of hell was to win a certain type of award. And then I thought, ‘What a pitiful existence’.”

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. also relished working alongside wacky comic actor ZACH GALIFIANAKIS in their new movie DUE DATE – because he rarely gets to play the “straight man”.

The pair shares the screen in the outlandish new comedy, which tells the story of an expectant father teamed with an unlikely travelling companion as he races to be by his wife’s side for the birth.

Galifianakis plays for laughs in a series of oddball set-ups, and rather than feeling jealous of his co-star’s scene-stealing performance, Downey, Jr. insists he enjoyed keeping his role understated.

He tells Britain’s GQ magazine, “It’s kind of embarrassing to say this, as I always thought of myself as being that type of actor, but Zach is probably one of the freest artists I have ever experienced. The funny thing for me was having the confidence to play the straight man for once, and it gave me a whole new set of insights into the people whose responsibility it is to hold the mooring lines while the other great talents have chewed up the scenery – and I’ve been that guy.”

[From Contact Music & Digital Spy]

Okay, I just got completely choked up thinking about what RDJ’s speech would sound like if he ever did win the Oscar, so I know he actually cares. He’s just pretending to be all Clooney about it in the hopes that he’ll actually win at some point – which I think he will, eventually.

Also – I’d never really thought about it that way, but RDJ has changed – he definitely used to take the oddball, comic-relief roles in his previous incarnation, and now he’s taking the straight-man leading roles. I’m glad he’s cool with it. Meanwhile, I think I’m going to watch Home for the Holidays this weekend. Ah… RDJ back when he was coked-out and insane.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 03: Actor Robert Downey Jr attends the 'Due Date' Premiere at The Empire Cinema, Leicester Square on November 3, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Photo by: DP/AAD/starmaxinc.com 2010  11/3/10 Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis at the premiere of Due Date . (London, England)  Photo via Newscom

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GQ photos courtesy of RDJ’s fansite.

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26 Responses to “Robert Downey Jr says he doesn’t care about winning Oscars”

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  1. Johnny Depp's Girl says:

    He’s wonderful. I could lick him. I would lick him. Yum!

  2. devilgirl says:

    Most real actors don’t care about awards.

  3. W.O.M. says:

    They’re aren’t a lot of people who could make a career come back after being arrested, passed out in a child’s bed.

    Why do actors still want to win an Oscar? Seems to me so many win and their careers stagnate, ie Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Helen Hunt.

  4. EllenP says:

    It’s unrealistic that each year only one movie, one director, etc. can be selected. Makes no sense at all because during that year, there are many performances and works of art that are acclaimed.

  5. mrsezc says:

    Love him .. Love him .. Love him .. he’s just so delicious!!!

  6. Just a Poster says:

    FUNNEL HEAD DOGGIE ALERT!! LOL

    Could we love RDJ anymore if we had to?

  7. Raven says:

    Actors want to win the Oscar because it is an award from their peers in the industry. Being honored by your peers is wonderful, because it is such a sign of respect and that is true for any profession.

  8. Stronzilla says:

    I read somewhere that RDJ was getting irate at Zach’s onset antics and told him he needed to take acting lessons.

  9. Tess says:

    Glad to see some love for Home for the Holidays. Such an underappreciated movie. The character he played in that movie remains my favorite RDJ role.

  10. skibunny says:

    A friend of mine hung out with RDJ for a day when she was in Paris. She said he was very down to earth and fun.
    The Oscars for the most part,IMO,are a joke!

  11. cedar falls says:

    As soon as someone stresses the word “honestly” in an interview, you know they’re lying – as in Nicole Kidman’s, “Honestly, I haven’t had anything done!”.
    RDJ, there’s no shame at all in admitting that a little recognition from your peers is a good thing – it’s not like they’ve invited Lilo to join the Academy, is it? That said, he is absolutely correct in saying that they tend to give them to actors when it’s “their time” *coughBullockRobertsBerrycough*

  12. Cleo says:

    Gore Vidal never won a Pulitzer. RDJr looks like Timothy Hutton in the car in that last photo.

  13. Diane says:

    I don’t care about him winning Oscars, either. Still love him.

  14. Anti-icon says:

    I just watched Home for Holidays again too. Yum, yum and yum. I think RDJ became King of Hollywood in his Mind (in a healthy way) a long, long time ago. Statuettes mean zilch. He is so my type. Damn his gorgeous, executive wife.

  15. Circe says:

    That last picture is WOW.

    And I still love him.

  16. Chris says:

    His performance in Less Than Zero was Oscar worthy.

  17. wunderkindt says:

    A real actor!

  18. Jeri says:

    Less than Zero is a great old RDJ movie, it made me cry when movies never used to get me emotional.

  19. normades says:

    @WOM: Don’t forget Halle, her career realy tanked.

    I think the only actor to get a boost from an Oscar recently is Marion Cotillard and only because she was tots unknown in Hollywood

  20. ziggy says:

    due date truly sucked. it was completely offensive. people were walking out of theater! rdj was fine. it was that other fat slob that really brought the movie down. my opinion only.

  21. Solveig says:

    Oh, it’s poppy time in UK, right now!
    Anyway, I believe him when he says that he doesn’t give a damn about that award, and considering that the academy gives it pretty much always to the wrong (undeserving) actor/director, I wouldn’t give a damn too if I were him.

  22. truthzbetta says:

    Now that is a great GQ cover. The quote below the pose face is too perfect.

  23. Dirty Martini says:

    I. LOVE. HIM.

  24. jay says:

    meh
    when an actor says they don’t care about winning awards, they usually do. It’s like releasing a statement about how you aren’t going to release any more statements.
    Besides, the Oscars don’t really mean much anymore.

  25. Jazz says:

    I love, love, love this man!! *le sigh*

  26. angela says:

    Hot and smart with a little side of crazy. I love it.