Almost everyone is familiar with the cult comedy film Home Alone. It has become a kind of tradition because people all over the world like to watch it before the New Year. The main character of the film, Kevin McCallister, who was accidentally left home alone by his parents, was especially remembered and loved by the audience. The real name of this actor is Macaulay Culkin and we will talk about him. More about his childhood, career uprise and decline, as well as personal life is presented on manhattanski.
Early years
Macaulay Carson Culkin is a famous American actor. Macaulay was born on August 26, 1980 in Manhattan in a fairly low-income family. His mother, Patricia Brentrup, worked as a telephone operator and father, Christopher Cornelius Culkin, was an actor in the past. After Macaulay was born, he became a clergyman. The Culkin family was large, consisting of seven children. They lived modestly in a small flat. Still, this did not prevent little Culkin from achieving great success.
The boy’s charismatic and artistic abilities were evident from an early age. When Macaulay was four years old, he was sent to study at a theater studio. During this period, the boy played his first theatrical roles, which became the starting point for his future triumph. During his performance, Macaulay Culkin played so expressively that he was noticed and began to be called to shoot IN commercials and episodic roles in various films, such as Born on the Fourth of July, The Midnight Hour, etc. During his active acting career, Culkin also studied at school, first at St. Joseph’s Catholic School and then at the Professional Children’s School.
Career takeoff
The first film in which Macaulay Culkin played the main role of Miles Russell was the movie Uncle Buck. This film did not have much recognition. However, it became very significant for little Culkin. During the filming, the film director of the well-known movie Home Alone noticed him.
In the blockbuster Home Alone, Macaulay played eight-year-old Kevin McCallister, the youngest son of the large McCallister family. After being released on television, the film became extremely popular not only in the USA but also around the world. Macaulay instantly became a megastar, whom everyone knew. The box office was crazy. They managed to collect more than $500 million at the world box office, which was put into the Guinness World Records. Culkin also did not go unnoticed. In addition to the crazy popularity, he received a fee of $100 thousand, as well as a number of awards and the title of Child of the Year.
Later, Culkin continued to act in other films. He was paid large fees, but the films were no longer so successful. In addition, his father, who was his manager at the time, played a negative role in the formation of the boy’s career. He paid little attention to the quality of the scripts, as he was more interested in money. In addition, the situation was aggravated by the special conditions created by Christopher Culkin. The mandatory conditions for Macaulay Culkin’s participation in the filming included the involvement of other children from the Culkin family. The young actor repeated a similar success only when filming the second part of the Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. At that time, the box office was about $400 million and the actor’s fee was about $5 million.
Career decline
As we have already noted, the negative policy of his father led to the fact that Culkin’s career went into decline. He was no longer invited to filming. He also got tired of the constant routine and longed to be an ordinary child. At the age of thirteen, Macaulay left the film industry for a while. Before that, he managed to play in such films as Getting Even with Dad, The Nutcracker, Frasier, Richie Rich, The Good Son, etc.
At the age of twenty-three, Macaulay Carson Culkin returned and tried to regain popularity. However, he did not succeed in doing so. During this period, the actor played in the theater and also starred in such films as Sex and Breakfast, Corporate Ghost, Party Monster, Will & Grace, etc. Culkin also tried to do music, creating the band The Pizza Underground, but it did not last long. In addition, the actor starred in commercials and various Internet shows. In 2023, Macaulay Culkin received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for past achievements.
Personal life
At the age of seventeen, Culkin married actress Rachel Miner. Their marriage did not last long and broke up after two years. Since 2003, the actor has been dating the famous American actress of Ukrainian origin Mila Kunis for a long time. However, the romance did not end with marriage. Culkin experienced the separation very painfully. In 2017, the public noticed a love affair between Macaulay Culkin and actress Brenda Song. For some time, they hid their feelings. Later, this information was confirmed. In 2021, the couple had their first child and the following year Culkin proposed. At the end of the same year, their second son was born.
Macaulay Culkin had a drug and alcohol addiction for some time. As far as is known, these bad habits appeared in the actor’s life not because of a decline in his career but due to the sudden death of his sister and a breakup with Mila Kunis.