Kieran Culkin's Oscar-Winning Performance Couldn't Be More Different Than Roman Roy

Sometimes an actor plays a role so well and for so long that the two seem to become inextricable from one another. In the hit HBO series "Succession," Kieran Culkin played youngest sibling Roman Roy, a spoiled and vicious man who felt entitled to the world because he was the son of media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox). As Roman, Culkin poured a lot of his own snark and sarcasm into a tortured and broken man who used his words as both weapon and shield, and he did it with such expert skill that he made Roman a character you wanted to root for even though he was monstrous. 

In Jesse Eisenberg's film "A Real Pain," Culkin plays another man dealing with a tremendous amount of pain, and he once again uses humor to deal with that pain. Benji Kaplan is a man reaching middle age who feels adrift, and he just lost the one person who tethered him most to the world: his grandmother. He and his cousin David (Eisenberg) take a Jewish heritage tour through Poland in an attempt to connect with their past and say goodbye to their grandmother, and it's profound stuff. Unfortunately, some critics have said that Culkin is just playing Roman all over again, but I'm here to tell you: Roman Roy and Benji Kaplan couldn't be more different. 

There's an impishness to Culkin that's undeniable in every role he plays, from snarky gay roommate Wallace in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" to absolute screw-up Rye Gerhardt on "Fargo," and that exists in both Roman and Benji. It can be easy to lump them in together, but where Roman lashes out at the world in his grief, Benji seems desperate for positive connection. He encourages the other members of the tour group to act out and have fun, and while it's reminiscent of Roman's love for rule-breaking, it's not just a desire to cause trouble. Benji is a little lost, but he's a genuinely good man grappling with not only the loss of his grandmother but the generational trauma of growing up as a Jewish person. Culkin plays the role with an incredible depth, showing the most beautiful parts of the human experience in his love for cousin and their fellow travelers as well as the ugliest parts in his grief and self-loathing. 

On "Succession," Culkin played Roman as an awkwardly lovable but despicable figure, a broken man-child who could only ever think about himself. In "A Real Pain," Benji is focusing on himself but he's doing it because he's trying to grow. He wants to be better for not only selfish reasons but to contribute more to the world. There are layers of depth to Benji that Roman could only dream of, because he has never taken a second for self-examination.

Culkin deserves the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor award that he just won for giving all of himself in "A Real Pain," opening his heart in a way few actors are ever brave enough to do. Bravo, and congratulations.

"A Real Pain" is currently streaming on Hulu.