Kieran Culkin (‘A Real Pain’) takes the lead in Best Supporting Actor Oscar predictions
Gold Derby has been tracking the top Oscar races for months, and one category that has kept us on our toes is Best Supporting Actor. Samuel L. Jackson (“The Piano Lesson”) had the early lead in our predictions, and he was followed soon after by Clarence Maclin (“Sing Sing”). But now, we have a new front-runner in the form of Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”). Culkin is represented by the dark blue line in the Oscar predictions chart above.
Culkin, who just last year won the Best Drama Actor Emmy for his role on HBO’s “Succession,” now takes on the role of Benji Kaplan in Searchlight Pictures’ “A Real Pain.” Benji is the cousin of David Kaplan, played by Jesse Eisenberg (who also wrote and directed the dramedy movie). Together, the cousins embark on a journey through Poland as they remember the life of their late grandmother.
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In our Best Supporting Actor rankings, Culkin is now in the #1 spot with 9/2 odds, followed by Maclin in the runner-up position at 5/1 odds. Rounding out the Top 5 are Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”) at 6/1 odds, Washington at 7/1 odds, and Stanley Tucci (“Conclave”) at 15/2 odds. Agree or disagree with these early Oscar predictions? Be sure to make your own right now.
Gold Derby’s 21 Expert journalists from major media outlets are still divided on this category, with these eight predicting Culkin: Anne Thompson (Indiewire), Christopher Rosen (Gold Derby), Erik Davis (Fandango), Joyce Eng (Gold Derby), Keith Simanton (IMDb), Peter Travers (ABC), Thelma Adams (Gold Derby) and Wilson Morales (Black FilmandTV).
Out of our 11 staff Editors, just three (myself, Rosen and Eng) believe Culkin will prevail for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. And five of our Top 24 Users (GuitarLord25, lady_bird, hotsizzle10, kamila and rkenny4) are backing a victory for the 42-year-old actor.
Culkin has no prior Oscar nominations, though he has been acting since he was a child and has received a lot of industry love lately thanks to “Succession,” which ended in 2023. Besides the Emmy Award, he also took home a Golden Globe and two Critics Choice Awards for his role of wise-cracking youngest son Roman Roy.
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