People Literally Can’t Get Enough Of The Chaotic Dynamic Between Jesse Eisenberg And Kieran Culkin On The “A Real Pain” Press Tour

In case you missed it, Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are currently promoting their new movie, A Real Pain, which was written and directed by Jesse.

Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin stand with an arm around the other, against a backdrop with BFI logos. They are casually dressed in sweaters

Speaking to Vogue in September, Kieran explained that he was due to shoot in Poland for a full month, and ended up calling Emma to break the news that he was going to have to bail.

Kieran said Emma reassured him that she understood his concerns and would handle the situation, with Kieran’s wife and kids ultimately joining him in Poland for two weeks at the start of filming. Kieran added that Emma and her husband also got the same flight over as them for extra support. Ultimately, the star still had to spend three weeks away from his family, and told Vogue that he “was in panic mode the whole time” and went to a “horrible place.”“I was just so fucking broken,” he continued. “Jesse was like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’”

Jesse himself confessed that working with Kieran was tricky at times, telling Vogue he “was infuriated” when he learned of how close Kieran had been to walking out on the project.

“But the more I got to know him, the more I understood that he just kind of lives in this way that is totally unusual in an industry riddled with eager obsequiousness,” he added.
And the two actors also locked horns over blocking on set, with Kieran not always understanding Jesse’s vision as the movie’s director. 
“He was brilliant,” Jesse said. “But I still don’t understand how he thinks or works. He didn’t know his lines, and then I would show him a page right before we started filming, and he’d memorize it.” “You stop questioning these things,” he concluded. “Kieran was just exhilarating and constantly baffling.”

And Jesse and Kieran’s intense working relationship was on full display during their joint appearance on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, where Kieran revealed the unconventional way he landed the role of Benji.

Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin seated on The Graham Norton show set, engaging in conversation. Jesse, on the left, gestures with their hand

“He cast me without auditioning me or seeing me in anything ever,” Kieran said on the show. “He goes: ‘Yeah, but that’s fine, I’m aware of you.’ I’m like: ‘What do you mean?’ He’s like: ‘I met you before.’ We met twice in passing, and you put me in your movie!”

Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin animatedly discussing A Real Pain on The Graham Norton Show

Graham then asked Jesse if he was always thinking of Kieran when he was writing the role of Benji, and at that point Jesse admitted that he originally wrote the role for himself.

Kieran Culkin in a button-up shirt and sunglasses, Jesse Eisenberg in a long-sleeve shirt, smiling and standing together outdoors

Needless to say, viewers are completely obsessed with the chaotic dynamic between Kieran and Jesse, and when this interview clip was posted to TikTok, it quickly racked up more than two and a half million views and hundreds of thousands of likes.

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg at A Real Pain's premiere

You can watch the Graham Norton clip below — let me know what you make of it all in the comments!

BBC / Via tiktok.com

ADVERTISEMENT

More on this