Jesse Eisenberg says Emma Stone flew with Kieran Culkin to get A Real Pain made

Emma Stone had to sit with Kieran Culkin on the flight to Poland to get A Real Pain into production, Jesse Eisenberg has said. Eisenberg told the story during a Screen Talk at the BFI London Film Festival, where he appeared ahead of his musical comedy The Debut closing the festival, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Culkin did not want to travel. He did not want to rehearse either. Eisenberg said his co-star would not get on a phone call before filming began, and arrived with no interest in running lines or planning scenes.

The resistance continued once cameras were ready. Eisenberg said Culkin was frustrated by standing on marks, the taped spots on the floor that tell actors where to stop so they stay in focus. The solution was simple. The crew stopped holding Culkin to fixed positions and followed him around instead, building shots around whatever he did.

It was an unusual way to work. The film needed precision, because Eisenberg also directed it and appears in it opposite Culkin. The pair play two Jewish-American cousins who reunite for a heritage tour through Poland connected to the Holocaust, travelling together through history that sits close to their family story.

Culkin is best known to television viewers as Roman Roy in HBO's Succession, the drama about a family fighting for control of a media empire. His turn in A Real Pain later earned him the Oscar for best supporting actor. Eisenberg said the performance that won the prize came from an actor who preferred to arrive fresh and react in the moment.

Stone's role happened largely off screen. Eisenberg said he first met her making Zombieland, when she was 20 and he was 25. That early co-starring job grew into a directing lifeline. Her production company, Fruit Tree, financed all three of his features as a director: When You Finish Saving the World from 2022, A Real Pain from 2024 and The Debut from 2026.

Culkin was not the first choice for the part. Eisenberg had offered the role to comedian Eric André before Culkin came aboard, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. A Real Pain later premiered at Sundance, the US festival for independent film, to a standing ovation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That reception followed months of doubt, since Culkin had been reluctant to go to Poland at all, as he told the Los Angeles Times.

What makes this stand out is how little of the usual preparation survived. No rehearsal. No phone call. A chaperoned flight arranged by a friend and producer. Then an Oscar-winning performance built on the move.