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

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