Kieran Culkin and J. Smith-Cameron.Photo:Lionel Hahn/Getty; Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Lionel Hahn/Getty; Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Kieran Culkinknows hisSuccessioncostarJ. Smith-Cameronwas “really bummed” that their character never hooked up.
While appearing on theE! Live From the Red Carpetpre-show ahead of the 2023Emmy Awards, the 41-year-old actor shared that Smith-Cameron, who plays Gerri on the hit HBO series, had held out hope that her character would get together with Roman, which Culkin portrays.
“She’s really bummed,” he told hostLaverne Coxof his costar. “She’s like, ‘I thought something was going to happen.’ I always knew it was never going to quite happen. I feel like that’s not the show.”
Also on the red carpet, Culkin interrupted Smith-Cameron’s interview withVariety. While doing an imitation of her voice to answer a question that was never asked, he jokingly said of himself, “I love Kieran Culkin and he’s my absolute favorite to work with even though he’s an a–hole to me and I hate him in a personal light.”
“You really hate me, don’t you?” he said before adding, “You look lovely. You smell nice.”
She then asked for a “little kiss” and the pair smooched on the lips.
Despite their characters' on-screen tensions, Smith-Cameron has previously spoken about her tight bond with Kieran on set.
“We were kind of always flirting on set,” Smith-Cameron says of her co-star in an interview withEsquirein March 2023. “It was never for one second a real flirtation. It was that set-crush kind of thing.”
SinceSuccessionpremiered in 2018, the pair haven’t shied away from expressing their adoration for one another, including on social media.
In a snapshot shared on Instagram in March 2022, the duo sat next to each other and cheekily smirked at the camera. The photo showed Smith-Cameron, holding up a martini glass, while he raised his middle finger to his lips.
“Kieran’s finger is gonna get stuck like that,” Smith-Cameronjokingly captioned the shot, before clarifying, “(wearing a @cynthiarowley shirt that resembles pajamas).”
Kieran Culkin and J. Smith-Cameron on “Succession”.Peter Kramer/HBO
In October 2021, after being asked who is her favorite character on the show to act alongside,Smith-CamerontoldVariety, “Shorty over here, obviously,” referring to Culkin.
“He’s a great acting partner and we have this fabulous plotline and it’s enormous fun,” she added of her costar.
Culkin echoed her sentiments,telling the outlet, “It’s nice to work with that lady, I mean, look at her… it’s a joy. I’ve been friends with J for nearly 20 years or so. I was just really excited when she got to play this part, which I believe was initially written to be a man.”
“It feels like the [chemistry] thing just sorta happened on its own and grew,” he continued. “She’s a lovely scene partner and it’s fantastic to work with her.”
That same month, Smith-Cameron toldThe Hollywood Reporterof her costar, “He’s one of the most available, alive actors I’ve ever worked with or even seen. He’s so inventive and just … released. He’s just operating at the very top of his game.”
Culkin also opened up toTHRabout their chemistry, explaining that there wasn’t initially a flirtation between the characters.
“I remember saying to my wife in season one, ‘I really hope something happens sort of sexually or romantically between those two, but I don’t know that it ever will,'” Kieran shared. “But we were sure trying. I would flirt with J. in the most obnoxious way, just to f— around … but it never occurred to me that it would inform anything they wrote.”
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source: people.com
