Eric André Says Jesse Eisenberg ‘Offered Me’ Kieran Culkin’s Oscar Winning Role in ‘A Real Pain’ But Turned it Down Because it Seemed ‘Really Miserable’: ‘Not in My Lane’

If things had gone differently, Eric André could have walked away an Oscar winner at the 2025 Academy Awards.

During a recent appearance on Andrew Santino’s “Whiskey Ginger” podcast, André said that writer-director-star Jesse Eisenberg had originally offered him the role of his on-screen cousin, Benji Kaplan, before Kieran Culkin ultimately entered the picture. However, the comedian turned him down, thinking, at the time, that the dramatic project was too far out of his wheelhouse for him to sign on.

“Two years ago, Jesse Eisenberg called me…offered me the [‘A Real Pain‘] role that Kieran Culkin got the Oscar for,” André said. “I was like, ‘That seems really miserable and not in my lane.’ I read the script. I was like, ‘To go to Poland for six weeks and shoot a movie where we’re just babbling about the Holocaust, seems like a bummer.'”

“A Real Pain” follows two estranged cousins who reunite for a trip to Poland in remembrance of their grandmother. Despite an exceptionally turbulent 2025 Oscar season, Culkin emerged as a clear front-runner in the best supporting actor category. He also won honors for the role at the BAFTA Awards, Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

“I was like, ‘Appreciate the offer. I’m sure it’s gonna be great. I don’t think that’s what I’m looking for right now,'” André added. “The motherfucker won an Oscar for the role I passed up. It’s not like I get offered roles constantly. I’m not fucking Leonardo [DiCaprio].”