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Kieran Culkin reveals his Oscar-winning turn in A Real Pain came with an unexpected twist. Culkin starred in Jesse Eisenberg’s critically acclaimed dramedy, which follows two cousins reconnecting with their familial roots—and each other—while backpacking through Poland. Culkin has now won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and last night’s Spirit Award, all for his performance as Benji Kaplan, the brash and unpredictable counterpart to Eisenberg’s David Kaplan.
ScreenRant‘s Tatiana Hullender is in the winner’s press room at the 2025 Oscars where Culkin revealed Benji was unknowingly modeled on someone in his real life. Read what he had to say below:
It definitely, it felt different immediately. The script was incredibly tight that I didn’t want to rehearse it or talk about it or anything. It just felt like was the first time I ever read something and went, “I fully understand this guy. I don’t even want to read again.” I wanted to show up on the day and go, “What scene are we doing? Oh yes, this one,” and the words [would get] here really quickly, because they were so well-written.
That was a fun new approach, and it felt like I knew who this guy was, but I couldn’t identify it. I didn’t want to identify it, because right away, while reading it, I’m like, “I know who this guy is. I’m just gonna leave it and just do it.” It wasn’t until almost a year later, when I watched it that I was like, “Oh, my God, I know someone exactly like this. I didn’t realize I was doing that.” The moment I realized that my wife leaned over in the theater [and] said his name in my ear, and I was like, “You’re right. I’m totally doing him, and I didn’t even know!”
That kind of unusual experience? I’ve never had that before.
More to come…
This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.