Kieran Culkin tried to quit the role of a lifetime.
The actor took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on Sunday night for his performance in “A Real Pain” — a role that also won him a Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Critics’ Choice award, among others.
But before the trophies, red carpets and afterparties, Culkin had to be convinced to stay with the production just two weeks before it began shooting.
The 42-year-old star had committed to the film more than a year earlier, thinking that the break in his schedule in between filming “Succession” and “A Real Pain” would give him plenty of time to spend with his family. But when filming of the HBO series went long, he realized he wouldn’t have much downtime between shoots.
“I had a panic,” he told Vulture in October.
It took his ex girlfriend and “A Real Pain” producer Emma Stone employing “reverse-psychology” to get him back onboard the movie that would eventually win him an Oscar.
“I was like, ‘But have they started?’ She goes, ‘Oh, yeah. They’re actually already in Poland scouting locations; people are hired,'” he told the magazine. “I was like, ‘It’s not like people would be out of a job?’ She’s like, ‘No, no, they would, but it’s not on you. You said ‘yes,’ but if you have your reasons for not doing it, you’re not responsible for these people’s jobs. It’s fine; you do whatever you want.’ And I got off the phone and I went, ‘Ah.'”
Culkin’s wife and children ended up joining him for a portion of the shoot in Poland, allowing the actor to fulfill his professional responsibilities while also getting family time.
Stone, a two-time Oscar winner in her own right, said it would have been “catastrophic” for the shoot if Culkin had dropped out.
“Producing, I’ve realized now, is like parenting — every kid needs different things,” she said. “I was so grateful that he did it, but, also, thank f—ing god. Because it would’ve been catastrophic.”
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