Kieran Culkin, now an Academy Award winner, is still processing the moment. Fresh off his win for Best Supporting Actor at the 97th Oscars, Culkin sat down for post-show interviews, but if he had a profound reflection ready, it hadn’t quite hit him yet.
“I don’t know,” he admitted when asked how the win felt. “I’ve already been asked that about three or four times in whatever span of minutes it’s been. I’m not fully inside my body right now. I’m trying my best to be present.”
For the actor, who has been steadily working in Hollywood since childhood, this wasn’t just an expected career milestone—it was something he almost walked away from entirely.
“The thing is, I almost said no to the movie—not for any creative reason,” he revealed. “It was just the way the schedule changed right before we started. It was taking me away from my kids for almost a month, and I was like, well, I don’t want to do that.”
Ultimately, he was talked into doing the film, a decision he now calls “obviously” the right one.
A Role That Just Clicked
Unlike other projects where actors spend months analyzing their characters, Culkin knew exactly how to approach this one from the first read.
“The script was incredibly tight, and I didn’t want to rehearse it or even talk about it,” he said. “It just felt like the first time I ever read something and went, ‘I fully understand this guy.’ I don’t even want to read it again.”
Instead of over-preparing, he took a spontaneous approach, showing up on set ready to dive into the scene of the day. The words came naturally, something Culkin credits to the strength of the script.
But it wasn’t until nearly a year later—when he finally watched the finished film—that he had a strange revelation: he had unknowingly based his performance on someone he knew in real life.
“The moment I realized it, my wife leaned over to me in the theater and whispered a name in my ear,” he recalled. “And I was like, ‘You’re right! I’m totally doing him and I didn’t even know it.’”
What Did He Learn From the Experience?
When asked what the role and film had taught him about himself, Culkin hesitated. “Oh God, that’s too heavy a question,” he said with a laugh. But he did admit that every role leaves something behind. “Sometimes people will say, ‘Oh, you’re a lot like that character.’ And I’m like, ‘I wasn’t until I did it, and now I feel like I took something with me.’”
Still, he was quick to clarify one thing: he’s nothing like the character he played. “I’d like to think I’m a little more together than that guy,” he joked. “I’d like to think that I’ve figured some stuff out.”
Even as the questions continued, one thing was clear: Kieran Culkin, Oscar winner, is still trying to absorb it all.
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