Kieran Culkin, from Macaulay's 'shadow' to Oscar favorite

Kieran Culkin made his film debut when he was just 8 years old, playing Fuller McCallister (yes, the boy who wet his bed if he drank too much Coca-Cola), but always in the shadow of his brother, Macaulay Culkin.

Almost 25 years have passed since the distant 1990s and the status of both brothers has changed in Hollywood. Now, Kieran Culkin is the famous brother and is on track to crown a glorious year with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

In January 2024, the actor won the Golden Globe and Emmy for his role in ‘Succession’. His Roman Roy went from strength to strength in each of the four seasons and ended up being one of the pillars of the series' success.

Max's series (please call it HBO again) put Kieran Culkin in a position to choose any role he wanted in Hollywood, and also potentially giving the opportunity to put as many zeros as he wanted on the contract.

He then chose to join Jesse Eisenberg in ‘A Real Pain’, Eisenberg's second film in the director's chair. A small film, with a budget of 3 million dollars.

In the film, the actor plays Benji, a soul adrift since the death of his grandmother, who embarks on a journey to Poland with his cousin David (Eisenberg) to try to understand more about his deceased relative.

The character seems tailor-made for Kieran Culkin. Fascinating, hypnotic, unnerving, and magnetic, this character in a drama earned him a Golden Globe in 2025 and could give him his first Oscar.

The actor is sweeping the awards race and critics and audiences alike have praised a performance that entertains, thrills, and unsettles in equal measure. David Fear, in ‘Rolling Stone’, says the film "gives Kieran Culkin an Oscar-worthy role".

The interesting thing  is that this exchange of popularity that he has made with his brother Macaulay (two years older than him), has converged at an unexpected intermediate point for both of them: fatherhood.

Both Macaulay and Kieran Culkin have become daddies, to the point where Kieran almost quit ‘A Real Pain’ because of a change of dates that meant spending a month away from Jazz Charton and his two children, due to filming in Poland.

Luckily, Jesse Eisenberg won him over and, who knows, that decision could end up with Kieran Culkin picking up his first Oscar and dedicating it to his wife and two children.

We will have to wait until March 3, 2025, to find out whether or not Kieran Culkin will win the statuette. However, at this point, it is fair to confirm that, as of today, Kieran is the famous Culkin brother, ahead of Macaulay.

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