Robert Downey Jr talks about his Hollywood journey after Oscar win

The Oppenheimer star Robert Downey Jr, who will next play four characters in HBO'S spy drama The Sympathiser (coming April 14), spoke about his journey from an uninsurable actor to an Oscar winner, reported People.

Accepting the Best Supporting Actor award, Downey peppered his deadpan speech with emotional moments, addressing the years he spent in the grip of drug addiction in the late 90s and early 2000s. He thanked his wife for "loving me back to life," along with his longtime lawyer, joking that the attorney had spent half of their 40 years together "trying to get me insured and bailing me out."

"I think if you develop a moral psychology, things are a lot easier," Downey, 58, told People in this week's cover story. "And I think it's hard to explain away certain behaviours when there are ways to heal. So I have a lot of empathy for them, and I also am a little bit sceptical about anyone who doesn't lean into what they can do to improve the state of their compass. That's all."

Standing next to him, Downey's wife Susan added, "I feel like anyone's journey, no matter how fraught or positive, whatever it is, it is your journey. There's nothing we would do differently."

Away from the spotlight, people close to Downey say he has retained a lowkey emphasis on helping others.

"His ways are heart-warming," said fellow Avengers star Jeremy Renner, who was in the ICU last January following his horrific snowplow accident.

He noted that Downey checked in on him constantly. "We ended up having great chats on Facetime like we were dating or something," recalled Renner.

The couple, who have been married for 18 years have built a strong foundation at home. As a rule, they don't go two weeks without seeing each other, dinners are both joyful and punctual.