When you think of Macaulay Culkin, there's a good chance you picture the 10-year-old boy screaming with his hands on his face in Home Alone. Kevin McCallister from Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is certainly the actor's most iconic role, but Culkin has been in many other films both as a child star and an adult. His filmography ranges from family comedies as a child star to indie favorites to more experimental films in recent years.
Of course, the now-43-year-old was prolific as a child actor. His first movie hit theaters in 1988, and over the next six years, he starred in 12 more films—and this is in addition to television work, which he was taking on at the same time. Around 1994, Culkin, then 14 years old, stepped away from acting for several years. He returned in 2003 at the age of 23 with Party Monster—a much more adult role. Ever since, Culkin has taken on smaller parts in TV (including The Righteous Gemstones and American Horror Story) and in film, clearly being much more selective now that he's calling the shots in his own career.
Read on to learn about all of Macaulay Culkin's movies.
RELATED: The 25 Best Classic Movies That Every Film Fan Needs to See.
1 | Rocket Gibraltar (1988)
Culkin's first theatrically released movie is Rocket Gibraltar, a family drama about a man named Levi (Burt Lancaster), who invites his family to his Long Island, New York estate to celebrate his 77th birthday. But, there is a lot of drama among his four children (John Glover, Frances Conroy, Patricia Clarkson, Suzy Amis Cameron) , and Levi's health takes a turn. Culkin plays one of Levi's grandchildren. Fun fact: The movie also features another child actor, Angela Goethals, who would go on to play one of Kevin's siblings in Home Alone.
2 | See You in the Morning (1989)
See You in the Morning is a romance about Larry (Jeff Bridges) and Beth (Alice Krige), who begin a relationship after he gets a divorce and she becomes a widow. Their respective children—one of whom is played by Culkin—struggle to get along with each other and to accept their parent's new relationship, which causes a strain for Beth and Larry, as does the return of Larry's ex-wife, Jo (Farrah Fawcett).
3 | Uncle Buck (1989)
John Candy stars in the John Hughes comedy Uncle Buck as a heavy-drinking, gambling-obsessed, seemingly irresponsible uncle, who has to babysit his brother's (Garrett M. Brown) children (Culkin, Gaby Hoffmann, Jean Louisa Kelly) when a family emergency strikes. While Uncle Buck causes a lot of problems at first, his love for his nieces and nephew becomes clear.
4 | Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Culkin plays the son of a Vietnam War veteran in Jacob's Ladder. The psychological horror movie is about a man, Jacob (Tim Robbins), who begins experiencing disturbing visions and receiving confusing information about his reality after returning from war and starting a new life away from the family he left behind.
5 | Home Alone (1990)
Culkin took on his first starring role and became a household name with 1990's Home Alone, playing Kevin McCallister, a young boy who is accidentally left behind by his family when they go to France over the Christmas holiday. Kevin gets into all sorts of hijinks—first, because he can do whatever he wants without his parents around, and then, because when he learns that burglars (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) are planning to rob his home, he sets up some ingenious booby traps to keep them away.
RELATED: Hot New Movies Coming Out in 2024 That We Can't Wait to See.
6 | Only the Lonely (1991)
Culkin was cast alongside Candy for the third time in the rom-com Only the Lonely. (Candy also has a small role in Home Alone, though he and Culkin do not share any scenes.) In Only the Lonely, Candy plays Danny, a single police officer, who cares for his mother, Rose (Maureen O'Hara). When he begins dating Theresa (Ally Sheedy), their relationship is tested by Danny's responsibilities with Rose, and because Rose does not approve of her. As in Uncle Buck, Culkin plays a nephew of Candy's character.
7 | My Girl (1991)
Culkin stars alongside Anna Chlumsky in My Girl, a coming-of-age movie about a tween girl, Vada, who lives in the funeral home that her widower father runs. Vada struggles with being a hypochondriac and being preoccupied by death, while her friend Thomas (Culkin) is an outcast among their peers. They two form a strong bond, but their friendship takes an unforgettably emotional turn. Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis co-star.
8 | Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Home Alone was such a huge hit, a sequel was all but a given. In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Kevin ends up on a plane to New York City when he gets separated from his family in the airport as they're supposed to be traveling to Florida. Kevin figures out a way to live it up in the Plaza Hotel, but there's trouble when he runs into the Wet Bandits, the burglars from the first movie.
9 | The Good Son (1993)
Culkin took on a much darker role than he ever had before in the thriller The Good Son. Elijah Wood plays a boy named Mark, who goes to live with his aunt (Wendy Crewson), uncle (Daniel Hugh Kelly), and cousins Henry (Culkin) and Connie (Culkin's real sister Quinn Culkin) over a winter vacation. Mark quickly learns that Henry is a psychopath, who plans and executes violence against his family. Mark finds out the truth first and has to convince his aunt and uncle what's really going on with their son.
10 | The Nutcracker (1993)
A film version of The Nutcracker ballet was released in 1993 with most of the cast consisting of professional ballet dancers. Culkin plays the Nutcracker/prince, and many reviews from the time noted that he seemed out of place.
11 | Getting Even With Dad (1994)
Culkin co-stars with Ted Danson in the comedy Getting Even With Dad, about a boy, Timmy, who reunites with his dad after he's released from prison. Ray, though, has not given up a life of crime, and is still stealing things, including some rare coins. When Timmy finds out, he hides the coins his father stole and they begin to repair their relationship, while Ray's cohorts (Saul Rubinek, Gailard Sartain) and an undercover cop named Theresa (Glenne Headley) complicate things.
12 | The Pagemaster (1994)
The Pagemaster is a hybrid live-action/animated film about a boy named Richard, who learns to face his fears after visiting a magical library. Richard ends up meeting talking books and having an adventure involving literary characters including Moby Dick and Dr. Jekyll. The cast also includes Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Lloyd, and Patrick Stewart.
13 | Richie Rich (1994)
Culkin made three films in 1994—his last big screen credits for nearly a decade. The third of them was Richie Rich, in which he plays the son of billionaires (Edward Herrmann, Christine Ebersole), who ends up attempting to thwart an outlandish plot in which the CFO of his dad's company, Laurence Van Dough (John Larroquette) plans to kill off the Riches, so he can have their fortune for himself. It's based on the Richie Rich comics, which began being published in the '50s.
14 | Party Monster (2003)
After Richie Rich, Culkin took several years away from acting before returning in 2003's Party Monster. The film is based on a true story, and Culkin stars as Michael Alig, a member of the Club Kids (popular partygoers in '80s and '90s New York City), who was convicted of manslaughter and imprisoned for killing another Club Kid, Andre "Angel" Melendez (Wilson Cruz), with Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs (Justin Hagan). The cast also includes Chloë Sevigny, Seth Green, and Natasha Lyonne.
15 | Saved! (2004)
Saved! is a dark comedy about students at an evangelical Christian high school. Mary (Jena Malone) becomes pregnant after losing her virginity to her boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust) in an attempt to convince him that he's straight after he comes out to her as gay. Meanwhile, Mary is shunned by her friend group, which includes popular girl and devout Christian Hilary (Mandy Moore). Culkin plays Hilary's brother, Roland, who Mary befriends.
RELATED: The Saddest Movie Deaths of All Time.
16 | Jerusalemski sindrom (2004)
SGranitz/WireImage via Getty ImagesThere's not much information about 2004's Jerusalemski sindrom online, other than that it is from Croatian directors and is a love story. And while the cast includes some Croatian and Israeli actors, it also features Culkin, Martin Sheen, and Charlotte Rampling. It's considered a piece of lost media.
17 | Sex and Breakfast (2007)
Warning: Adult content in video above.
Sex and Breakfast is about two couples whose relationships are at the brink of ending: James (Culkin) and Heather (Alexis Dziena), and Ellis (Kuno Becker) and Renee (Eliza Dushku). After both couples seek help from the same therapist (Joanna Miles), they are advised to try group sex to see if it brings any clarity about their relationships.
18 | The Wrong Ferarri (2011)
Adam Green / VimeoThe Wrong Ferarri (which is purposely spelled wrong) is an independent film directed and written by and starring musician and filmmaker Adam Green. The director's website describes it as "an epic surrealist drug-odyssey which focuses on Adam's psychological outlook on love, work, and turning 30." It was filmed on a phone and Green came up with the plot as he and the actors went along.
19 | Adam Green’s Aladdin (2015)
Warning: Adult content in video above.
Culkin is also featured in another of Green's films, Adam Green's Aladdin. This one is a new take on the Aladdin folktale that is set in the modern day U.S., following Aladdin (Green) and his dysfunctional family. Some other familiar names in the cast include Zoë Kravitz, Natasha Lyonne, and Penn Badgley.
20 | Changeland (2019)
The most recent film Culkin was in is 2019's Changeland. (That said, he has done other acting work more recently, including in the TV series The Righteous Gemstones and a voice role in the series Entergalactic.) Changeland is the directorial debut of actor Seth Green and follows Brandon (Green), who visits Thailand with a friend (Breckin Meyer) to run away from his marriage because he believes his wife is cheating on him. Culkin plays Ian, an American living in Thailand. The film also features Culkin's real-life partner, Brenda Song.
