Film & TV3 min(s) read
Kieran Culkin aims joke at Sean Penn after he didn't show up to collect his own Oscar
Kieran Culkin seemed to aim a dig at Sean Penn after the actor won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar but didn’t show up to collect it.
The 65-year-old One Battle After Another star left Culkin holding the envelope, but he didn’t let the moment pass without comment.
Kieran Culkin presented the Best Supporting Actor award to no-one
Sean Penn is rightly regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation.
Tonight, that was enshrined into awards history as he became one of a select group of people to win three Academy Awards.
Penn, who is known for his political activism, previously won for Mystic River and Milk, but took home the gong for Best Supporting Actor at the 98th Academy Awards tonight for his performance in One Battle After Another.
Or at least would have done had he been there.
Instead, it was left to Kieran Culkin to carry off his famous golden statue.
It seemed as if he wasn’t particularly happy about being left with the task.
Culkin read out the winner of the award, then said: "Sean Penn couldn't be here this evening - or, didn't want to, so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf.”
Why does Sean Penn hate awards shows?
Well, we aren’t sure whether he does or doesn’t, but he recently attracted a bit of attention for his behavior at another show.
He’s also been critical of some shows, particularly the Oscars, in the past.
In fact, he ones accused the Academy of ‘extraordinary cowardice’ when it should be supporting more out-there and diverse filmmaking.
“The Academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice… limiting the imagination and different cultural expressions,” he said.
He has also previously said that he simply can’t get himself up for it.
In one interview, he said: “I don’t get very excited about what we’ll call the Academy Awards.”
In yet another interview, Penn said: “Ceremonies like the Oscars should best be seen as television shows first and less as barometers of artistic merit.”
So, that goes some of the way to explaining why he didn’t turn up tonight.
He has still used the Academy Awards to further some of his beloved political causes though, even once threatening to melt down his two statues if they didn’t give a platform to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He even later gave a statue to the president himself, stating that he could keep it.
Some things are more important to Penn than awards, regardless of how prestigious they are.