Triple Crown of Acting: Who's Next?

by Eric Blume
Kieran Culkin will have to wait a bit longer before he can add a Tony to his SUCCESSION Emmy and A REAL PAIN Oscar. | © Searchlight Pictures
Back in 2016, I wrote an article here when one of my favorite actresses, Jessica Lange, won a Tony for Long Day’s Journey into Night, thereby joining the club of elite actors who had achieved the Triple Crown of Acting (competitive Oscar, Emmy, and Tony). Only 24 actors have ever achieved this, and since Lange eight years ago, only two people have joined that list (Viola Davis in 2017 with her Emmy; Glenda Jackson in 2018 with her Tony).
I thought it would be fun to take a look at who is a realistic possibility to join that club. I’m reminded of it because, until just a few days ago, there was a chance that person was going to be Kieran Culkin! Culkin had been largely predicted to be nominated for a Tony Award (and possibly win!) for his performance in the revival of Glengarry Glen Ross. Alas, Culkin was shut out of the nominations on May 1. Had he won, he would be the first person to win all three awards in such tight timing (he just won his Emmy for Succession and Oscar for A Real Pain within the last three years). It took Jessica 33 years and Glenda 47 years!
So since it's not going to be Kieran Culkin, let’s take a look at who might be next. I’m working on probability here, not possibility: meaning that I’m not counting likelihood for actors who rarely or never work in that given medium. Here are some thoughts…