Kimmel jested that Downey Jr.’s Oscar run was “one of the highest points” of the actor’s career at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10

By Tommy McArdle Tommy McArdle Tommy McArdle is a writer-reporter on the Movies team at PEOPLE. Tommy joined PEOPLE in 2022. People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 8, 2024 12:22PM EDTRobert Downey Jr. in Los Angeles on May 17, 2023; Jimmy Kimmel in Las Vegas on Nov. 17, 2023. Photo:

Charley Gallay/Getty; Mindy Small/Getty

Did Robert Downey Jr. mind that joke Jimmy Kimmel made about him at the 2024 Oscars? Apparently not.

Downey Jr., who turned 59 on April 4, appeared on the cover of Esquire‘s spring 2024 issue, where the Academy Award-winning actor dished on his career, upbringing and relationship with his wife Susan Downey.

Among a myriad of questions the Oppenheimer actor answered included his reaction to Oscar host Kimmel’s joke he made about Downey Jr. during his monologue at March’s 96th Oscars ceremony, where he jokingly referenced the actor’s past struggles with addiction by calling the evening “one of the highest points” of the actor’s career.

In the moment, Downey Jr. laughed along with the crowd and pointed to his nose before pantomiming a request to “keep it moving” when cameras panned to him.

“I don’t care. I love Jimmy Kimmel,” Downey Jr. told Esquire when asked about the joke hours after the Oscars. “I think he’s a national treasure.”

Robert Downey Jr. Thanks His ‘Veterinarian, I Mean Wife’ Susan in Oscars Speech: ‘You Loved Me Back to Life’Robert Downey Jr. on the cover of ‘Esquire’.

Norman Jean Roy

Downey Jr. won his first-career Oscar just hours after Kimmel’s monologue during the March 10 awards ceremony for his role in Oppenheimer, in which he played Lewis Strauss opposite Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer.

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While speaking with PEOPLE following the Oscars, Downey Jr. said he has “a couple other tricks up my sleeve” following his Oscar-winning role in Christopher Nolan’s 2023 blockbuster biopic. The actor also spoke highly about his night at the Academy Awards with his wife Susan, 50, whom he said “loved me back to life” onstage while accepting the Best Actor award. The couple share three kids: Avri, Exton and Indio.

Robert Downey Jr. Reflects on His Hollywood Journey After Oscar Win: ‘There Are Ways to Heal’ (Exclusive)Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Esquire’.

Norman Jean Roy

“We just said, let’s just check in [with each other] tonight, because it was like, you know what this feels like? It’s like our wedding night,” Downey Jr. told PEOPLE of the night.

“There’s this thing where there’s all this stuff going on and it is in a lot of ways for other people,” he added. “But the best part of the night — sorry, world — was there was a commercial break and we just touched heads, like two dinosaurs that were letting each other know that we were a couple. And it was great.”

Downey Jr. will next star in HBO’s miniseries The Sympathizer, which begins airing April 14. According to the actor’s IMDb page, follow-up projects include an in-the-works third Sherlock Holmes movie and a role in the upcoming Jamie Foxx movie All-Star Weekend.