The 'Oppenheimer' star took the quip about his past struggles with substance abuse in stride, issuing a response in a new interview.
Robert Downey Jr. can take a joke. After Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel made a pointed zinger at his expense during his opening monologue at the 96th Academy Awards, the Oppenheimer actor is issuing a lighthearted response in a new interview.
"I don't care," Downey says in Esquire's April/May issue, which hits newsstands April 16. "I love Jimmy Kimmel. I think he's a national treasure."
Ahead of Downey's win for Best Supporting Actor, Kimmel appeared to reference the actor's past struggles with substance abuse with a wisecrack.
"This is the highest point of Robert Downey Jr.'s long and illustrious career," he began. "Well, one of the highest points."
As cameras cut to Downey in the audience, he playfully tapped his finger to his nose as co-star Emily Blunt laughed and offered a supportive pat on his shoulders.
"Is that too on-the-nose, or is that a drug motion you're making?" Kimmel responded.
Downey then urged the host to "keep it going" while making a rolling sign with his hands.
By Downey's side for his big night was his wife of nearly two decades, Susan Downey. Elsewhere in the Esquire article, Susan weighs in on her side of the "simple narrative" that she "turned his life around."
"I can tell you that I would never be who I am without him in my life," she says. "His trajectory is just the easier one to chart because he's had to live his ups and downs in public. When we met, we were fortunate that he was in a place where he was open to do things differently than he had historically. But you know what? So was I."
Together, the pair are parents of Exton, 12, and Avri, 9. The star is also dad to son Indio, 30, with ex-wife Deborah Falconer.
Last summer, Downey opened up to ET about his experience making Oppenheimer prior to the record-breaking "Barbenheimer" opening weekend in July.
"You have pretty much a who's who of several generations of actors," he noted. "And we all know we're doing something with a master filmmaker. We're all there for the love of it, because this was a money gig for none of us. It was an exceptionally taxing venture. And we'd all do it again."
Downey referred to co-star Cillian Murphy's performance in the film as a "heroic effort," but Murphy humbly attributed his portrayal to the "safe environment" director Christopher Nolan created for his actors on set.
"He creates this really kind of like a laboratory, where you can just try stuff out and he just lets you off," he explained. "And the other thing is, I was thinking about it, no scene ever gets left behind, do you know what I mean? No scene is less than another."
For his part, Murphy also took home an Academy Award in the Best Actor category this year.
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