Macaulay Culkin’s first big gig was in 1985, when he appeared in the comedy Uncle Buck, but it wasn’t until he played Kevin McCallister in the 1990 blockbuster Home Alone that he became one of the most famous child stars in Hollywood history. In addition to that holiday hit and its sequel, the actor also starred in Richie Rich, My Girl, The Good Son, and The Pagemaster, among other movies. Culkin also famously appeared in friend Michael Jackson’ “Black or White” music video and made headlines for some legal drama with his parents. He's had a rollercoaster ride of a career and relationship with his own celebrity—not surprising, since there was a time that he was on the cover of every tabloid. Here’s how 41-year-old Culkin is keeping busy now.
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He took a long hiatus from acting.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, IncAfter Richie Rich was released in 1994, Culkin took a long break from acting, save for an appearance in Sonic Youth’s music video “Sunday” in 1997. It wasn't until 2003 that Culkin properly returned to the screen. In Party Monster, he played Michael Alig, a real New York City party promoter and scene-ster who went to jail for murder. The film was a far cry from the family comedies of Culkin’s youth, proving that he'd make much different choices as an adult.
His comeback movie kickstarted a new era of Culkin's career. On TV, he's played roles in Will & Grace, Kings, Robot Chicken, Dollface, American Horror Story, and The Righteous Gemstones, to name a few. On the big screen, Culkin has appeared in films including Saved!, Sex and Breakfast, and Changeland. In 2022, he was cast in Rich Flu, a pandemic-themed film currently in post-production. He's also providing a voice for the upcoming Netflix animated series, Entergalactic.
He's a dad.
HUGO PHILPOTT/AFP via Getty ImagesIn 1998, at the age of 18, Culkin married fellow actor Rachel Miner. They divorced two years later. Culkin then dated That '70s Show star Mila Kunis, and they were together for a decade. Kunis told Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast that she blames herself for how the relationship ended, noting that they were both in their twenties at the time and not capable of sustaining meaningful relationship due to their own personal issues.
After meeting on the set of Changeland, Culkin and co-star Brenda Song began dating and then married in 2017. Song told Esquire of her husband in 2020, “"People don't realize how incredibly kind and loyal and sweet and smart he is. Truly what makes Mack so special is that he is so unapologetically Mack. He knows who he is, and he's 100 percent okay with that. And that to me is an incredibly sexy quality." In April 2021, the couple welcomed their son, Dakota.
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He's clearing up rumors.
Kimberly White/Getty Images for Nasdaq Entrepreneurial CenterIn the same Esquire piece, Culkin cleared up some rumors that had followed him throughout much of his life. The first was that he had business in mind when he attempted to emancipate from his parents legally. At the time, they had been getting a reported 15% of his earnings. He told the magazine, “It’s always misconstrued that I 'emancipated' myself from my parents. I legally took my parents’ names off of my trust fund and found an executor, someone who would look over my finances, just in case anyone wanted to stick their [expletive] pinkie in the pie. But the next thing you know, the story was that I divorced my parents. I just thought I was doing it cleanly—taking my father’s name off, taking my mom’s name off, so my opinion is unbiased. And when I did that, the whole thing kinda ended a lot faster."
He also addressed rumors that he had battled addiction, saying that while he did use drugs, it never got to a point where he needed to go to rehab or seek outside help.
He hosts a comedy podcast.
Taylor Hill/WireImageIn addition to his onscreen work, Culkin is the owner of a comedy brand called Bunny Ears, which includes podcasts hosted by the actor and a website. He has dabbled in music as well, leading the now-defunct band, the Pizza Underground, and last year, he walked the runway in a Gucci fashion show (pictured above). Culkin is incredibly self-aware and meta on social media, posting tweets joking about how people should have felt old when he turned 40 years old and even taking blame for singlehandedly ruining Christmas burglaries. He partook in a playful bromance with Ryan Gosling, when the two went back and forth posting pictures of themselves wearing t-shirts with the others’ likeness on them. And in 2018, Culkin went about the process of legally changing his name when he asked fans to vote on a new middle name for him in an online poll. The winner? Macaulay Culkin, making the star officially Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin.
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