Robert Downey Jr. says Margot Robbie ‘is not getting enough credit’ for ‘Barbie’ after Oscars 2024 snub
This Ken believes one Barbie was snubbed.
Renowned Marvel actor Robert Downey Jr. seemingly slammed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tuesday after proclaiming that Margot Robbie “is not getting enough credit” for her hit summer film “Barbie.”
“It never fails to impress and remind me how little you need to do to be effective,” Downey, 58, said during a discussion with fellow SAG Award nominees Sterling K. Brown and Willem Dafoe. “Just the simplest version of expression, that’s what the camera wants. The closer the camera gets, the more it wants it. Time and time again, it’s demonstrated that it’s super effective.”
“Margot Robbie is not getting enough credit, in my opinion,” the “Iron Man” star continued. “America [Ferrera, Robbie’s co-star who got an Oscar nomination,] has this amazing speech. And by the way she nails it! I’m watching it and go, ‘Wow, that was a really tough one.’ That’s like a one-act play. The whole movie hinges on it.”
“But it’s the cuts away to Robbie so actively listening that I realize Greta [Gerwig, the film’s director,] is really onto something here,” the “Oppenheimer” star went on. “But it’s Robbie who had to trust … and it’s hard when someone who has the f–king two-page passage and they go, ‘OK, now let’s jump in and get Bob,’ and you’re like, ‘I’ve been listening to this all day and now I have to make it work!’”
The “Avengers: Endgame” star’s tirade came almost a week after Robbie, 33, and Gerwig, 40, were snubbed for the Best Actress and Best Director categories.
While neither Robbie nor Gerwig has issued a public statement, two people who did get Oscar noms for their work on “Barbie,” Ferrera, 39, and Ryan Gosling, blasted the nomination committee for their lack of acknowledgment.
“I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated,” Ferrera told Variety hours after securing a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
“Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. This world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon — it feels disappointing to not see her on that list,” she continued.
“What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable,” the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” alum continued.
“One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look,” Ferrera went on. “And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work [was] easy, but Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did. She brings so much heart and humor and depth and joy and fun to the character. In my book, she’s a master.”
Gosling, 43, also expressed annoyance that his leading lady was not getting time in the Oscars spotlight.
“I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films,” he said. “And I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m also incredibly honored and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken.”
“But 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,” he continued. ”No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius.”
“To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement,” the “Notebook” heartthrob stated. “Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees.”
Also joining the chorus of angry voices was former first lady, United States Senator and 2016 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, who stated: “While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you. You’re both so much more than Kenough. #HillaryBarbie”
Despite the wave of support behind the pair, EGOT winner and former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board member Whoopi Goldberg claimed, “There are no snubs” and that “not everybody gets a prize, and it is subjective. Movies are subjective.”
