Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg are the oddball duo no one knew we needed.
The two actors lead “A Real Pain,” which Eisenberg wrote and directed. The feature is Eisenberg’s sophomore film after his directorial debut “When You Finish Saving the World,” and the trailer for “A Real Pain” is now here. Watch it below.
The official synopsis for “A Real Pain” reads: “Mismatched cousins David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.”
Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, and Daniel Oreskes co-star.
“A Real Pain” is produced by Emma Stone, Dave McCary, Ali Herting, Jennifer Semler, Ewa Puszczynska, and Eisenberg.
Eisenberg told Esquire that working with “Succession” Emmy winner Culkin changed his own perspective on improvised takes in films.
“I really don’t like improv, but Kieran is such an unusual performer. He would say things that deviated from the script, and a lot of times they were just better,” Eisenberg said. “When I first heard something that was a deviation, it rang a false note for me because I had to look at the script for so long. But in the editing room we ended up going with some of Kieran’s improvs because they just felt natural to him.”
Eisenberg also told IndieWire at the Sundance premiere of the film that he never saw “Succession” before casting Culkin in his “buddy comedy” set against the backdrop of a Holocaust tour.
“Kieran is not a person who likes to jump at work from project to project. He’s incredibly picky,” Eisenberg said. “My sister said to me, ‘There’s one person who could play this part: Kieran Culkin.’ I finished the script. Talk about a year later, we’re in the position to make an offer to him and I was just praying he would do it. […] There was a poll, there was even an article about him trying to drop out of a movie. So we were worried he could do it. It was hard to get him, but he’s so good in the movie. We both are good in the movie but he’s great.”
“A Real Pain” premieres November 1 in theaters from Searchlight. Check out the trailer below and read the IndieWire review for “A Real Pain” here.
