Kieran Culkin took home the win for best supporting performance at the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday.
Presented by Kathryn Hahn, Culkin won the honor for his work in Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, marking his first Spirit Award ever. Culkin — who is starring in Glengarry Glen Ross, which opens March 10 on Broadway — was not present at the Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday, but Hahn accepted the award on his behalf.
His win at the 2025 Spirit Awards came a little over a month after he won the award for best supporting actor at the 2025 Golden Globes. Culkin, too, became a first-time Oscar nominee this year with a nod in the same category for his portrayal of Benji Kaplan in A Real Pain.
The Succession star was nominated for best supporting performance at the Spirit Awards alongside Yura Borisov (Anora), Joan Chen (Dìdi), Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson), Carol Kane (Between the Temples), Karren Karagulian (Anora), Kani Kusruti (Girls Will Be Girls), Brigette Lundy-Paine (I Saw the TV Glow), Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin (Sing Sing) and Adam Pearson (A Different Man).
Culkin joined the 2025 Spirit Awards winners alongside a slew of talent, including Maisy Stella, who won breakthrough performance for her work in My Old Ass, and Shogun, which won best new scripted series. Three honors were given out ahead of Saturday’s ceremony at the Spirit Awards brunch in January, including the Producers Award, which was presented to Sarah Winshall; the Truer Than Fiction Award to Rachel Elizabeth Seed, director of A Photographic Memory; and the Someone to Watch Award to the director of Familiar Touch, Sarah Friedland.
The 40th Spirit Awards, presented by Film Independent, were hosted by Aidy Bryant on Saturday in Santa Monica. See the red carpet arrivals and the list of winners.