Robert Downey Jr looked back on the humble beginnings of Jeremy Strong’s acting career, as he presented the Oscar for the Best Supporting Actor on Sunday night at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
While presenting the award, the Iron Man star shared a personalised introduction for each nominee before sharing a sweet recollection of how Strong once camped outside the 1993 ceremony where Downey earned his first-ever nomination for his role as ‘Charlie Chaplin’ in 1992’s Chaplin. (He lost the Oscar to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman.)
“As we all know, Jeremy Strong is irrefutably the most serious actor on Earth,” said The Avengers actor.
He continued, “He’s also like a brother to me. And I have watched him come from sleeping in the bleachers outside of the Oscars the night that I was nominated for Chaplin in 1993 into his blistering portrayal as Roy Cohn in The Apprentice.”
The Oppenheimer starrer praised Strong’s performance in the feature, centred on a young Donald Trump played by Sebastian Stan, as a “masterclass.”
The Oscar for Best Supporting Actor was ultimately taken home by Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain, who also lauded Strong’s performance in his acceptance speech. “He’s right by the way, Jeremy,” he said. “You’re amazing in The Apprentice. I’m not supposed to single anyone out. It’s favouritism. Anyway.”
