Macaulay Culkin Opens Up About Difficult Relationship With His Father
Macaulay Culkin is reflecting on his relationship with his father, Kit Culkin.
“My connection with my father was quite difficult, and that’s well known,” Macaulay, 45, stated on the Monday, December 29, episode of the “SmartLess” podcast, when asked if his parents served as his managers.
Macaulay continued, “As soon as I was able to distance myself from him, my daily quality of life noticeably improved.”
Cohost Jason Bateman then noted that he also had a “very complex relationship with that situation.”
Macaulay Culkin Reveals Toxic Relationship With His Father 'Left a Scar'
“Certainly as you grow older, looking back, it becomes even more intricate as you become a parent and you begin to consider the choices they made regarding managing your career and how that alters your perspective on your parents, who should be your guide, the person you emulate, when instead they create a dynamic where you’re in control, at an age when you’re, essentially, needing parental support,” Bateman said, while Macaulay added, “And that’s where they earned their living.”
Kit managed Macaulay’s career in the late 1980s and early 1990s when he was a child star in popular films like Home Alone and Uncle Buck. At 14 years old, Macaulay stepped away from acting.
“I was finished. I was like, I hope you all profited, because there won’t be any more work coming from me,” he explained on Monday’s episode. “I established my reputation, I made my mark, I built my fortune.”
While Macaulay didn’t provide specifics about his financial standing, he explained that he could “do whatever” he wanted — including “spend all day playing video games.” Macaulay explained that he ultimately received the “majority” of the money for each role he booked as a child, but it “ceased” to be enjoyable for him.
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“I wanted to take a break, and I said I was feeling overwhelmed,” he recalled. “I wasn’t listened to. That was something that deeply affected me, and impacted my work and so on. It felt like, ‘Oh, I’m on a treadmill and I can’t jump off.’ Once I had some independence and some control in my life, I seized it wholeheartedly.”
During his time away from acting, Macaulay shared that he “simply attended high school, experienced first love, had my first drink, things like that,” but didn’t have an interest in another profession.
“I was kind of just wandering around, and trying to figure out what I wanted out of life and so forth,” he said. “This was a vocation that found me. I didn’t find it. I wanted to explore that in a different way, on my terms.”
Now, Macaulay — who is engaged to Brenda Song — is still “officially” retired. But he occasionally returns. (The couple, who got engaged in 2022, welcomed sons Dakota and Carson in 2021 and 2022, respectively. )
“I retire and then, if I discover something I enjoy, I unretire, do that, and I immediately retire afterward,” he explained. “Each project is my last.”
