Rob Lowe Calls Longtime Friend Robert Downey Jr.'s Oscar Win a 'Culminating Moment': 'I’ve Been There from the Beginning'

Rob Lowe is giving Robert Downey Jr. his flowers. 

The 9-1-1: Lone Star actor, 59, who hosted a 2024 Oscars viewing party at Spago in Beverly Hills, California, praised his longtime friend for taking home the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Oppenheimer during Sunday's ceremony.

“His life story is obviously an amazing and inspirational roller coaster,” Lowe told Variety, noting that he’s been friends with the actor since they shared a class as sophomores in high school in Santa Monica. 

“I’ve been there from the beginning,” he continued. “And this will be a culminating moment for somebody who really deserves it.”

The first-time Oscar winner also received praise from friends like Jon Favreau, 57, who directed him in Iron Man and Iron Man 2. 

“It’s nice that the sun is shining on him, because it takes turns,” Favreau told PEOPLE. “You really get the sense that he’s putting things in perspective, and he seems to be understanding what this moment means.” 

Downey Jr.’s fellow MCU star, Jeremy Renner, 53, also noted that the actor was “doing so well.” The Hawkeye star added, “He's got a ton of energy and he's got his beautiful wife with him. He’s having a really great time. I’m so, so proud of him.”

After his Oscar win, Downey Jr. said there's more that people can expect to see from him. “I got a couple other tricks up my sleeve," he told PEOPLE, while teasing his next film, HBO’s upcoming The Sympathizer.

His wife and producing partner, Susan Downey, also told PEOPLE that they were “just getting started” with their producing plans. In addition to The Sympathizer, they are also working on the final season of their Emmy-winning Netflix fantasy series, Sweet Tooth.

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“We talk about it all the time," she said. "There's so many more things we want to do together and achieve together and play together, create together.”

Downey Jr. called their duo producing act an “inside job,” adding, “I believe that in our own way we have mountains yet to climb.”

For more on Robert Downey Jr., pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.