May their beef never end.
There’s some fresh beef in Hollywood. No, it’s not between Ali Wong and Steven Yeun — though their maniacal road rage series has been on everyone’s radar this month. This new gripe involves two of HBO’s late-night drama kings: Pedro Pascal and Kieran Culkin.
Since awards season kicked off earlier this month, the two actors and their respective shows (The Last of Us and Succession) have received some impressive nods. With these head-to-head nominations comes some friendly competition, and the duo hasn’t missed a beat in stirring up a fake feud.
Pascal and Culkin’s lighthearted back-and-forth has all the ingredients for a perfect drama: witty remarks, telenovela-tier reactions on camera, conspiracy theories, and a mysterious injury to drive the plot. (Someone please write a script of them as rival dads.) While that film isn’t in the works, their awards season banter certainly deserves a trophy.
Here’s a timeline of their hilarious feud.
It’s no surprise that Pascal and Culkin’s relationship follows the friends-to-fake-enemies pipeline. Their chemistry was first evident during The Hollywood Reporters’ Drama Actors Roundtable in May 2023, where they shared a space with Damson Idris, Peter Evans, Jeff Bridges, and Michael Imperioli.
In the episode, the duo sat next to each other and shared several viral moments, such as Culkin asking Pascal to “be his daddy” and joking about their roles.
Let’s set the scene. Pascal and Culkin (who both appeared at the 2024 Golden Globes) had some heavyweight nods that night, including their shared Best Actor in a Drama Series nomination. Culkin’s role as Roman Roy in Succession won the category, and he graced the stage to thank the wildly popular show for allowing him to return to the Globes.
“I was nominated for a Golden Globe like 20 years ago, and when that moment passed, I still remember thinking: ‘I’m never going to be back in this room again.’ But thanks to Succession, I’ve been here a couple times,” Culkin said, before jokingly rubbing his win in Pascal’s face. “This is a nice moment for me. Suck it, Pedro! Sorry. Mine!”
The camera panned to show Pascal laughing, before playfully erupting into tears. Oh, what a villain origin story.
Cue in the feud’s climactic plot point: Pascal’s shoulder injury. At the Golden Globes, The Mandalorian actor was spotted wearing an arm sling. Hours before the show’s premiere, he told People that he “fell,” but didn’t elaborate on what caused the accident. This lack of detail worked well for his appearance at the 2024 Emmys, where he announced the nominees for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series with his sling in view.
“A lot of people have been asking about my arm. It’s actually my shoulder,” Pascal began. “But I think tonight is the perfect time to tell everyone that Kieran Culkin beat the sh*t out of me.”
The cameras then showed Culkin’s unamused reaction; however, it wasn’t long until they broke character and began laughing at their own bit. The duo eventually crossed paths at the Emmys’ after party, where they took a selfie and shared a few laughs with Evan Peters.
What a delightful end to one of this year’s most quick-running gags.
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