Robert Downey Jr. Says Margot Robbie 'Is Not Getting Enough Credit' for Her “Barbie” Performance

Robert Downey Jr. specifically praised Margot Robbie for 'so actively listening' on camera during America Ferrera's pivotal 'Barbie' monologue

Robert Downey Jr. is shouting out Margot Robbie for her acting work in Barbie.

The Oppenheimer star, 58, recently joined fellow Screen Actors Guild Award nominees Willem Dafoe and Sterling K. Brown for a conversation surrounding their nominations for best supporting actor at the upcoming 2024 SAG Awards.

The group's conversation at one point turned toward how little actors need to do on screen to create an effective performance, leading Downey to specifically praise Robbie, 33, for her acting during America Ferrera's major monologue in Barbie.

"This is a weird non-sequitur, but Margot Robbie's not getting enough credit — in my opinion — because America has this amazing speech, and she nails it," Downey Jr. said. "But it's the cut away to Robbie so actively listening. It's when I realize, oh, okay, now I see Greta's really on to something here, but it was Robbie who had to trust [her.]"

"And let's not kid ourselves, it's hard when someone else has the f------- two-page passage and they go 'alright, now let's jump in and get Bob!' " Downey said of having to act when other performers are at the forefront of a scene. "And you're just like, 'I've been listening to this all day, now I have to listen to it and make it work?' "

Related: Robert Downey Jr. Says He’s Glad He Didn’t Win Oscar for Chaplin in 1992: ‘I Was Young and Crazy’

Robbie is nominated alongside Annette Bening (Nyad), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Carey Mulligan (Maestro) and Emma Stone (Poor Things) for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role at the SAG Awards for playing the title character in Barbie. Though she has been nominated at a number of awards shows this season, Robbie did not receive an Academy Award nomination last Tuesday: the Best Actress field includes the same four nominees as the SAG Awards, plus Anatomy of a Fall's Sandra Hüller instead of Robbie.

Her lack of a nomination for Best Actress — as well as filmmaker Greta Gerwig not receiving a nomination for Best Director — has drawn considerable attention over the last week. Robbie herself responded to the Oscar nominations for the first time following a SAG screening of Barbie at Los Angeles' Academy Museum on Tuesday, where she said, "There’s no way to feel sad when you know you’re this blessed," per Deadline.

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Related: Oscars Expert Says Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig's Barbie Snubs 'Will Be Remembered for a Long Time' (Exclusive)

“We set out to do something that would shift culture, affect culture, just make some sort of impact,” Robbie said at that event, per the outlet. She also noted that the film did receive eight Oscar nominations, with Gerwig, 40, nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Robbie herself “And it’s already done that, and some, way more than we ever dreamed it would. And that is truly the biggest reward that could come out of all of this.”

The 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will stream live on Netflix Saturday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. ET, from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

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