Macaulay Culkin

Macaulay Culkin (born August 26, 1980, New York City, New York, U.S.) is an American actor who rose to fame in John Hughes’s 1990 box office hit Home Alone and quickly became one of the most famous child actors of the 1990s. In his teens he took a step back from acting, and he reemerged in his early 20s to act occasionally and to pursue other creative opportunities.

Early life and work

Culkin was born in New York City to Kit Culkin and Patricia Brentrup, one of seven siblings. His father, a former child actor, shepherded his children into acting at a young age; two of Macaulay’s brothers, Rory and Kieran, would go on to have successful acting careers as adults. Young Macaulay’s first credited movie role was in Rocket Gibraltar (1988), which was closely followed by See You in the Morning (1989), Uncle Buck (1989), and Jacob’s Ladder (1990).

His breakout role came in the box office hit Home Alone (1990) as Kevin McCallister, the youngest son in a large family that accidentally leaves him behind during their frenzied departure for a Christmas vacation in Paris. The movie, written by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus, sees Kevin first reveling in having the house all to himself, indulging in all sorts of activities that he had not been allowed to do, and then, once he realizes that two thieves have targeted his house, he rallies an impressive and creative defense of his home. He next appeared in Only the Lonely and costarred in the highly acclaimed My Girl, both released in 1991. Culkin returned to his star-making role as Kevin in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), which also performed well at the box office. Culkin’s next role, a dramatic turn from his previous work, was in the dark and disturbing The Good Son (1993), in which he played a deeply troubled child.

Culkin continued to work steadily, appearing in one more film that year and in three films the next year—The Nutcracker (1993), Getting Even with Dad (1994), The Pagemaster (1994), and, in the title role, Richie Rich (1994)—before taking a step back from acting.

Legal issues, school, and family life

Culkin’s hiatus came amid rising tensions in both his professional and private life. Kit, who managed Macaulay’s career and had become increasingly controlling as his son’s popularity grew, soon had a reputation in the industry for being unreasonable and demanding, reportedly not unlike the situation at home with his family. Culkin’s parents separated in 1995, leading to a contentious—and expensive—battle for custody of their children who were minors as well as to determine who would manage the children’s acting careers. The custody battle ended in 1997 when Kit conceded and the kids happily remained with Patricia. By this time Culkin also had his parents removed from his trust fund and had hired an executor to oversee it, something he since said has been misinterpreted as him becoming emancipated from his parents.

On his hiatus from working, Culkin was able to focus on his education, attending the Professional Children’s School in New York City, where he met actress and fellow student Rachel Miner. The two married in June 1998, but the marriage did not last long. They separated in 2000 and finalized their divorce in 2002.

A friendship of his was in the news after pop star Michael Jackson was arrested in 2003 for allegedly having molested a child. Culkin had met and become friends with Jackson when he was nine years old and Jackson was an adult. Culkin said they bonded over their common experiences of having to deal with fame at a young age and having overbearing fathers. He was called to testify in Jackson’s defense during the trial, which took place in 2005. (Jackson was acquitted.) Culkin maintained that he had never experienced anything inappropriate with Jackson.

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Return to acting

Meanwhile, Culkin had returned to acting in the early 2000s. He starred in the play Madame Melville, which opened in London in 2000 and moved to New York City (Off-Broadway) the next year. His first movie as an adult was Party Monster (2003), in which he played the murderous party promoter Michael Alig. It was closely followed by his role in Saved! (2004), a comedy in which he played a high-school student whose sister is a Christian zealot. Later films included Sex and Breakfast (2007), The Wrong Ferrari (2011), Adam Green’s Aladdin (2016), and Changeland (2019). During this time he also worked in television, notably making appearances on Will & Grace, in 2003; Foster Hall, in 2004; Kings, in 2009; Dollface, in 2019; American Horror Story, in 2021; and The Righteous Gemstones, in 2022. Culkin lent his voice to Robot Chicken (2001– ) and appeared as himself in The Jim Gaffigan Show (2015–16).

Other creative pursuits

Culkin pursued other creative interests as well. He wrote a novel, Junior (2005), which is the story of a young star who has a troubled relationship with his father; while ostensibly fiction, it appeared to have many similarities to Culkin’s own experiences with his father. Culkin also dabbled in music. He formed a band called the Pizza Underground that performed the songs of the Velvet Underground but with the lyrics humorously revised to incorporate a pizza theme. Pizza Underground went on a brief tour in 2014. In 2017 Culkin created the comedy website and accompanying podcast Bunny Ears, which was a satiric riff on wellness and lifestyle brands.

Relationship with Brenda Song

In 2017 Culkin began a relationship with actress Brenda Song, whom he met after they were cast in Changeland. They welcomed a son, Dakota, in 2021.