Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice”), Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”), Edward Norton (“A Complete Unknown”), and Yura Borisov (“Anora”) were all defeated by the 42-year-old Culkin, who had been the front-runner throughout Hollywood’s awards season.
Culkin has earned numerous accolades for his work in the film, including a Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy for the final season of HBO’s media family drama “Succession,” in which he costarred with Strong, since January 2024.
“I don’t know how I got here. All I’ve done is act my entire life. Thanking his director, writer, and co-star Jesse Eisenberg, Culkin conveyed to the audience that it’s simply been a part of his work.
“Thank you for making this film. You are a genius. I would never say that directly to you. Culkin vowed never to utter it again.
Benji (Culkin) and Dave (Eisenberg), estranged cousins, embark on a purported heritage tour of Poland in “A Real Pain” in order to gain more insight into the early years of their Holocaust-survivor grandmother.
Animated Benji, who has been a little lost following the death of his grandma, wants to reconnect with David, a neurotic New Yorker who has a spouse, a child, and a thousand problems.
Culkin’s portrayal of Benji is both subdued and ostentatious, as he alternates between being thoughtful and emotional and volatile and insane. The bond between the two is framed by their experiences with other tour participants and a concentration camp.
At the film’s Sundance premiere in early 2024, Culkin told AFP, “I immediately connected with the character, which really doesn’t happen very often.”
He continued, “I believe it has happened three times in my life,” including his cherished role as Roman Roy on “Succession.”
Culkin stated in an interview with The New York Times in December: “The character is impromptu and unexpected, so I just wanted to show up and not practice and not think about it.”
He cast Culkin, who is not Jewish, after his sister read the script and recommended the actor, Eisenberg told USA Today.
In an interview with AFP last month in Paris, Eisenberg said that Culkin contributed his “unusual energy” and “great sense of timing and intelligence” to the filming process.
Born into a family of seven siblings in New York on September 30, 1982, Culkin began performing as a child and starred in his first movie as Kevin’s cousin (played by his brother Macaulay) in the 1990 Christmas classic “Home Alone.”
Following appearances in the 1991 film “Father of the Bride” and the less successful “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” the following year, the small, dark-haired actor performed in a number of stage, television, and movie productions.
The coming-of-age film “Igby Goes Down,” which he costarred in alongside Claire Danes, Bill Pullman, and Susan Sarandon, would be his critical breakthrough in 2002. He received a Golden Globe nod for the part, but it also caused him to flee Hollywood.
Culkin appeared in two of Kenneth Lonergan’s plays as well as other productions on Broadway and the West End in London. Pedigree, according to Eisenberg, is partly what prompted him to call about “A Real Pain.”
In “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” (2010), there was a memorable part, but there were also a number of forgettable ones.
That all changed in 2018 when he was chosen to play Roman Roy in the critically and popularly acclaimed film “Succession,” a story that follows the backstabbing dynastic quarrels of an extremely affluent family. The show concluded in 2023.
Culkin’s performance garnered him a Golden Globe, two Critics Choice Awards, and an Emmy.
The actor, who is married and has two kids, will next be heard as Squealer in Andy Serkis’ animated version of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” which is anticipated to be released this year, according to IMDb.
He stated to The New York Times that he acted to live, not the other way around, in spite of all the praise he had received over the last year.
It’s lovely, but what matters most is spending time at home with my children, reading them books and singing to them till they fall asleep. That is the entire purpose of life. He answered, “I’m doing the rest of it so I can return to that.”
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