One of the very few pleasures of this year’s awards season has been Kieran Culkin taking the piss out of, well, the spectacle that is the awards season while still seeming flattered to have been invited to the party. That’s a tricky tightrope walk, and Culkin is a pro at it. Both in his roles and his life, he’s shown that he’s better than most at playing on the line between charisma and awkwardness. It’s certainly what makes his performances feel so human.
That balancing act was more than abundant in his episode opposite Colman Domingo for Variety Studio: Actors on Actors, the highlight of which was a spirited conversation between the actors about the relevance of astrology. Culkin is as thoroughly alive to Domingo as he is on screen opposite Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain, which would be easy to dismiss as a standard-issue road-trip buddy movie if not for the vulnerability and volatility of Culkin’s performance.
People underestimate that, for a lot of AMPAS members, it’s enough to vote for someone if it makes them feel good. Culkin, a recent Emmy winner for his role on Succession, has practically run the table this Oscar season, and not enough has been written about why that is—namely, the generational trauma that his character deals with on screen, which is relatable to a lot of Oscar voters. But more importantly, he’s a former child actor who didn’t fade away—or worse—and is still here putting in the work. And we don’t have to tell you that there are few things as irresistible to Oscar voters than rallying behind someone because it makes for a good story.
Will Win: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Could Win: Yura Borisov, Anora
Should Win: Yura Borisov, Anora
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