Movies

The Oscar Nominations Just Delivered a Surprising Succession Emmy’s Rematch

Two Succession stars are going head to head at another awards ceremony.

Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong in Succession

Succession fans will likely take great interest in the Best Supporting Actor race at this year’s Oscars, as the category serves up a surprise Emmys rematch. Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong both scored nominations, which were announced this morning. Culkin earned the accolade for his turn as Benji Caplan in director Jesse Eisenberg’s dramedy A Real Pain; Strong was nominated for portraying Roy Cohn in Ali Abbasi’s Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice. The Best Supporting actor field is rounded out by Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), Yura Borisov (Anora), and Guy Pearce (The Brutalist).

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At the 2024 Emmys, Culkin and Strong went head to head in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category, with Culkin winning the trophy. That was the first and only time they directly competed against each other during Succession‘s run. Earlier seasons saw Strong secure two nominations (with one win) in Lead Actor and Culkin earn a pair of Outstanding Supporting Actor nominations.

Both Culkin and Strong earned their first career Oscar nominations this year. The 97th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 2nd, with Conan O’Brien hosting. While A Real Pain and The Apprentice missed out on Best Picture nods, the films did secure other nominations outside of the Succession stars; the former is up for Best Original Screenplay, and Sebastian Stan received a Best Actor nomination for his turn in the latter.

If the results of this year’s awards season are any indication, the Oscars could be a repeat of 2024’s Succession Emmys showdown. Culkin has emerged as the favorite for Best Supporting Actor, winning the category at the Golden Globes and the National Board of Review. He’s also picked up several awards from various film critics groups. So far, Strong’s only win for The Apprentice came at the Florida Film Critics Circle Awards โ€” where Culkin was the winner in the Best Actor category. There are still some notable Oscar precursors to be handed out, but it looks like this is Culkin’s race to lose.

Even if it’s all but a guarantee Culkin will win by the time Oscar Sunday rolls around, it should still be fun to see him and Strong in the same room again. Their shared history seems like ripe material for a joke or two during O’Brien’s opening monologue, especially since it appears Culkin is going to go two-for-two against his on-screen sibling. But the Oscars have surprised before, so perhaps there’s still a chance for Strong to get the upper hand.