The Roy brothers are back in competition, and Succession fans couldn’t be happier about it. That's right, both Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin landed on the list of 2025 Oscar nominees in the same category. So, considering the Kendall and Roman Roy actors are going up against each other again and they reacted to their nods in very on-brand ways, fans are making all the Succession comparisons, and they’re glorious.
How Jeremy Strong And Kieran Culkin Reacted To Their Oscar Nominations
Both Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin were nominated for and won Emmys for their work on Succession. However, Strong’s work in The Apprentice and Culkin’s performance in A Real Pain landed them their first Oscar nominations.
So, to celebrate this massive moment, Strong, who earned his nomination for playing Roy Cohn in the well-reviewed The Apprentice, gave a statement to CNN, noting that this is a “realization of a lifelong dream:”
I remember being unable to sleep because of how exciting it was to be close to that world. I have not lost that feeling of excitement; I feel it every time I go to set or drive onto a lot or begin rehearsals. I have devoted my life to the attempt to do genuine work that would be worthy of this honor. I am filled with amazement and flooded with emotion and with deep gratitude to my peers in the Academy.
This statement was supplemented with an adorable photo of the actor outside the 1993 Oscars too, showing that he has been dreaming of this since he was a child.
Strong also acknowledged the discourse surrounding this film about Donald Trump and the challenges he and Sebastian Stan – who played Trump – faced while trying to make and promote this movie, noting that their nods were “absolutely miraculous.”
Meanwhile, while Strong took the earnest and deeply reflective route, Kieran Culkin and his wife Jazz Charton were popping the champagne and bringing that LFG energy, as you can see in Charton’s IG stories below:
Keeping the hype alive as they celebrated Culkin’s nomination for his hilarious and tragic performance in A Real Pain, Charton posted:
Overall, these two were celebrating big time, and they deserve to.
Truly, both men deserve this acknowledgment and the chance to celebrate. What makes this all even better is how Kendall and Roman Roy coded these reactions were, and fans couldn’t get enough of it.
How Succession Fans Reacted To The Roy Brothers Oscar Nominations
These Succession cast members really played into their characters’ vibes, and the fans couldn’t ignore that fact. They also couldn’t get over the notion that these two actors, who played competing siblings for years, are now set to compete against each other…again. So, yeah, references and comparisons to Succession were flying left and right, as you can see by @mrswambsgans post:
kieran culkin and jeremy strong have a chance to do the funniest thing ever at the oscars pic.twitter.com/fNrOS4NmNVJanuary 23, 2025
Meanwhile, in the comments on a viral post that showed off Culkin’s Roman Roy-coded reaction to his nomination, fans were really going hard in the comments with their callouts to the HBO hit:
- succession casting could not have been more correct -@finelylesberg
- I love that the sibling rivalry continues -@emmiebe18
- you take the actors out of succession not succession out of the actors -@towniee_ele
- Life imitates art -@alandakariza
Of course, there were a lot of “eldest boy” memes flying around in reference to these competing nominations too, and they looked a lot like this:
Jeremy Strong when Kieran Culkin beats him to the Best Supporting Actor Oscar pic.twitter.com/UlJw0GeoYEJanuary 23, 2025
Considering Culkin beat Strong at the 2023 Emmys and he’s the frontrunner for the Oscar this year (he’s already taken home a Golden Globe and is expected to win at other upcoming award shows), tweets like this are hilarious. However, let it be known, there’s no bad blood between these two, and hopefully, we get to see them reunite and interact at the Academy Awards.
Now, the race is really on as we wait to see who takes home the Oscar on March 2. In the meantime, you can go back and watch the Roy brothers in Succession with a Max subscription. And you can check out their Oscar-nominated performances by streaming Culkin’s A Real Pain with a Hulu subscription and renting The Apprentice to see Strong’s performance.
