A Look Back at Everyone’s Favorite Awards Season Faux-Feud: Kieran Culkin and Pedro Pascal (2024)

Kieran Culkin and Pedro Pascal clearly used the 2024 award season to keep their bromance-turned-playful feud alive.

Now that the season is (finally!) over, The Hollywood Reporter is taking a closer look at the interactions between the pair, who competed for several awards for best male actor in a drama series for their roles in Succession and The Last of Us, respectively. And they took nearly every opportunity they could — between red carpet interviews, acceptance speeches and backstage interviews — to comment on their ongoing lighthearted rivalry.

While fans for them both have been eating up all their moments caught on camera, circulating them on social media, The Hollywood Reporter is looking back at when it all started.

Beginning with the Golden Globes in January, Culkin ignited their faux-feudwhen he said during his acceptance speech for best actor in a TV drama for Roman Roy, “Suck it, Pedro. Sorry. Mine!” The camera proceeded to cut to Pascal in the audience, who appeared to be fake crying. He was also nominated in the category for his role as Joel Miller inThe Last of Us.

The following week, during the Emmy Awards, Pascal was spotted wearing an arm sling. Before announcing the nominees for best supporting actor in a drama seriesduring the ceremony, he took a moment to (jokingly) explain his shoulder injury.

“A lot of people have been asking about my arm,”he said. “It’s actually my shoulder, and I think tonight is a perfect time to tell everyone thatKieran Culkinbeat the sh*t out of me.” The camera quickly panned to Culkin, who reacted with a deadpan expression before finally laughing along with the audience.

Later that evening, the pair were photographed celebrating together during HBO and Max’s reception (as seen in the photo above). Pascal also included a photo of him with Culkin in his Emmy highlights Instagram carousel in January.

A few days following the Emmys, Pascal also attended the Sundance Film Festival, where he took a moment on the red carpet to plead for Culkin to “just be nice to me,” but the Succession star clearly had his own agenda. He later said in response, “No, I’ll do what I want.”

Most recently, after beating Culkin for best male actor in a drama series at the SAG Awards and giving an emotional, drunk speech, Tan France asked Pascal backstage, “How badly are you gonna rag Kieran at the after-party tonight?”

“I’m gonna make out with Kieran,” the actor quipped. “That’ll be my revenge.”

He then proceeded to get a bit more serious and recalled one of the first times he and Culkin met. “He is the greatest. I can remember years and years ago actually taking one of my younger siblings to a FAO Schwartz in Manhattan. And I was doing a play at Second Stage [Theater] … but he came up to me and complimented me on the play. He was already famous, having been a lead in a movie, Igby Goes Down, and he approached me in public just to tell me —he doesn’t remember this at all, I remember this — and so we’ve known each other since then.”

Afterward, while Pascal was chatting with Entertainment Tonight, Culkin came over to clarify for the general public that they won’t be making out: “False!” The “frenemies” eventually hugged it out, but only after (jokingly) asking each other to smell their armpits.

After ET pointed out that they both earned statuettes at the SAG Awards, Culkin quipped, “I got one of these, and he’s got mine,” referring to Pascal winning for best male actor in a drama series over him. Pascal went on to thank Culkin and the Succession team for the award.

Now, fans don’t have to worry about the duo’s rivalry turning into anything too serious, as Pascal also clarified to Access Hollywood that he and Culkin are actually “besties” and planned to celebrate their SAG wins together at after-parties.

But fans will just have to wait and see where Pascal and Culkin’s faux-feud takes them next, especially since some are hoping it eventually leads to them starring in a project together — but who knows?