Kieran Culkin Drawn To “Brilliant Writing” of Jesse Eisenberg’s ‘A Real Pain’

Kieran Culkin has been recounting during the “A Real Pain” press tour that he initially was going to back out of the project. He ultimately hopped on board after a call from producer Emma Stone (he talks about in on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert).

“A Real Pain” centers on David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), two cousins who have entirely different personalities. They reunite for a tour through Polan in honor of their late grandmother. The ensemble includes Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, and Daniel Oreskes.

The feature was directed and penned by Jesse Eisenberg. “It was a brilliant piece of writing, and I immediately understood who this character was by just reading the first couple of pages,” said Culkin. “I felt like I could understand the history of these two (and) it was built into just the first little bit of dialogue. I went, ‘Oh, I can visualize their past, I can feel it. And I kind of know who this guy is.'”

Listen to Culkin’s thoughts on the “positive reaction” to a “Real Pain” (93% on Rotten Tomatoes):

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