Kieran Culkin's Oscar Nomination Isn't Category Fraud Even If A Real Pain Makes It Seem That Way

Kieran Culkin’s Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars has been criticized as category fraud, but despite how A Real Pain makes it look, he is, indeed, a supporting actor. Culkin appears alongside the film’s writer and director, Jesse Eisenberg, in the cast of A Real Pain. They play two Jewish American cousins — Dave, played by Eisenberg, and Benji, played by Culkin — who embark on a tour of Holocaust sites across Poland to honor their late grandmother. Along the way, they confront their personal issues with each other and return home with a stronger bond than ever.

When the nominations for the 2025 Oscars were announced, A Real Pain received two nods: Best Original Screenplay for Eisenberg and Best Supporting Actor for Culkin. While Eisenberg’s nomination was a no-brainer, Culkin’s has been criticized; not because his performance isn’t deserving of an award, but because he’s supposedly not a supporting actor. Some dissenters have argued that Culkin is more of a co-lead than a supporting player. But these complaints don’t hold much water. Benji is definitely a supporting character, but the movie makes it seem like he’s the main character — that’s part of the point.

Kieran Culkin’s Benji Is A Supporting Character In A Real Pain, He Just Has A Bigger Personality Than The Main Character

Benji Is The Life Of The Party

A Real Pain begins and ends with Benji — it’s bookended by shots of Benji sitting in an airport terminal, trying to make friends, realizing how lonely he is — but it’s still Dave’s story and it’s shown through Dave’s eyes. Dave is the one seen traveling to the airport at the beginning of the movie and he’s seen returning to his family at the end of A Real Pain. When Dave and Benji get separated, as Dave leaves the restaurant early and Benji stays out with the rest of the tour group, the movie follows Dave. It’s clearly about Dave’s journey.

Where Dave is shy, awkward, and introverted, Benji is brash, confident, and outspoken.

Benji feels like a main character because he has a much bigger personality than Dave. Where Dave is shy, awkward, and introverted, Benji is brash, confident, and outspoken. Benji has been compared to Culkin’s Succession character, Roman Roy, but they have a few key differences. Benji has social skills and compassion and a genuine interest in other people, which Roman lacks. Benji is an open book emotionally, while Roman goes to great lengths to mask his sadness. The main thing they have in common is their snarkiness, which makes them both scene-stealers.

Benji Overshadowing Dave Is The Whole Point Of Their Relationship In A Real Pain

It Seems Like Benji Is The Main Character Because The Movie Does Its Job

It seems like Benji is the lead of the movie, steering the ship, because his lively, obnoxious personality keeps overshadowing Dave. Benji is constantly stealing the spotlight from Dave, hijacking his conversations and redirecting people’s attention with his undeniable charms. But that’s not the movie failing to focus on the right character; it’s the movie succeeding in showing its central duo’s relationship. Benji’s penchant for upstaging Dave is the dramatic crux of their relationship. Dave feels invisible next to Benji, and the movie demonstrates why. If Benji seems like the main character, it’s because the movie captured that dynamic perfectly.

A Real Pain was named one of the top 10 movies of 2024 by the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review.

Dave’s insecurities in his relationship with Benji are illustrated perfectly in Eisenberg’s incredible dinner monologue. While Benji is in the bathroom, Dave confides in the rest of the tour group that he envies Benji’s ability to light up a room. He wishes he knew what it felt like to be the life of the party and capture people’s attention like Benji does. This monologue makes it clear that, while Dave is the main character of the movie, Benji is the main character of their lives.

Is Kieran Culkin The Favorite To Win Best Supporting Actor?

It’s A Very Competitive Category

Culkin is currently the frontrunner to win Best Supporting Actor at the 97th Academy Awards, especially after his Golden Globe win set a promising precedent, but it’s a very competitive category this year. Culkin is nominated alongside Yura Borisov for Anora, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown, Guy Pearce for The Brutalist, and Culkin’s Succession co-star Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice. Borisov was the surprise breakout star of Anora, playing the only male character that doesn’t objectify or exploit the titular sex worker. Pearce brought real intensity to Harrison’s jealousy of László’s talent in The Brutalist.

Best Supporting Actor Nominee	Movie
Kieran Culkin	A Real Pain
Yura Borisov	Anora
Edward Norton	A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce	The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong	The Apprentice

Norton made a great foil for Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown; his Pete Seeger embodies the stuffiness of the folk genre’s gatekeeping old guard that Dylan wants to break free of. Strong disappears into the role of Roy Cohn in The Apprentice, stealing the show from Sebastian Stan and captivating audiences whenever he’s on-screen. The case could be made for all of the nominees to win Best Supporting Actor at this year’s Oscars, but Culkin still seems like the most likely winner.