His work on the Fox show might even have gotten him an Emmy nod next summer. After all, Hollywood loves to reward the reformed. On top of that, there has been talk of a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Downey for his appearance in “Wonder Boys,” a film he made with Michael Douglas before going to prison.
Forget all that. Downey’s arrest over the weekend on suspicion of possessing cocaine and methamphetamine may have soured his chances of earning awards next year. “If he’d remained clean, the voters might have given him a nomination [for “Wonder Boys”] as a sign of encouragement and a way of saying ‘Good job for staying out of trouble’,” says Damien Bona, author of “Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards.” “Now he’ll have to wait maybe 40 years for his comeback nomination.”
There’s very littl precedent for an incarcerated Oscar nominee. Bona had to go all the way back to 1928 to find a ominated actor who’d recently had a public drug problem. (That was Jeanne Eagels, who was nominated for Best Actress for “The Letter” a year after she died of a heroin overdose.) Robert Mitchum went to prison for marijuana possession in 1948, but that was three years after his nod for his work in “G. I. Joe.”
Downey may have a slightly better chance of having his work on “Ally McBeal” rewarded. “Now that he’s been arrested again and is in the headlines, pretty much everyone’s going to see at least one of his performances on ‘Ally’,” says Robert Thompson, director for the Center for the Study of Popular TV at Syracuse University. “That extra boost of attention could do a lot of good for him.” Of course, Emmy voters might not be able to forget about the arrest. “Anyone who’s doing well and has a glamorours lifestyle, there’s satisfaction seeing those people get their commupance,” Thompson says. “Hollywood operates that way as well.”
Of course, even if he does earn some nominations, Downey could be in the slammer for much of 2001. Says Thompson: “He could be the first actor to win the Oscar, the Emmy and first place at the Sing Sing talent show all in the same year.” And won’t that make for a few headlines?
