In true Kendall Roy fashion, Strong flashed a small, seemingly moved smile but did not laugh as Culkin launched into his now signature, charmingly-tripping-over-himself manner of accepting a major award.
“And I’ve already lost whatever speech I’ve prepared,” he continued. “Twenty seconds or whatever. I have no idea how I got here, I’ve just been acting my whole life. It’s just been part of what I do. I felt like this was never my trajectory, but however I got here, I know that Emily Gerson Saines, my manager of 30 years, is—because of you, thank you for being there, I lean on you for everything, so, please don’t go anywhere, I’d be completely lost without you, I love you.
Culkin also thanked A Real Pain‘s writer-director-star Jesse Eisenberg for making the movie that scored him his first Oscar nomination and win. “You’re a genius,” he said. “I would never say that to your face, I’m never saying it again, so soak it up.”
In addition to Strong, Culkin bested Anora‘s Yura Borisov, The Brutalist‘s Guy Pearce and A Complete Unknown‘s Edward Norton.
See all the 2025 Oscar winners:
