Robert Downey Jr.’s real feelings about Oscars’ host Jimmy Kimmel jokes have been made clear
Robert Downey Jr. was the target of two of Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel’s crass jokes, one directed at his past drug abuse and the other at his manhood.
Now, body language expert Judi James is weighing in on Robert’s expressions when he received the jibes.
Judi explained: “Robert’s two emphatic blinks, one head tilt and a shoulder shrug were his body language response to Kimmel’s penis joke. There was no grinning or signals of taking the banter under the chin from Downey, unlike other stars who had performed overkill laughter to pretend to be good sports.”
She continued: “Was Downey really mad though? Since Ryan Gosling performed his now-classic ‘meme’ facial expression at the Critic’s Choice Awards it’s become a ‘thing’ for celebs to choose deadpan facial expressions as a joke when the camera is on them, or even to mime seething anger if the camera picks them up when they hear they haven’t won.”
Judi noted the Iron Man stars’ face to be “softened, not puckered into any frown or hard stare and the woman beside him is laughing, suggesting this reaction was a bit of a joke in itself”.
She even suggested that the jokes were scripted: “Downey is known for his sense of humor and the way Kimmel’s eyes flick back to the autocue quickly to check as he delivers this joke suggests it was all totally scripted, not ad-libbed. Kimmel’s comments before the penis line were flattering Downey’s looks so Downey could have been waiting for this punchline and his face probably got more laughs that the joke itself.”
