Macaulay Culkin is an American actor, one of the most successful child actors in the history of Hollywood.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on August 26, 1980 and grew up in New York City, New York, to Christopher “Keith” Culkin, a former theater actor, and Patricia Brentrup, a native of North Dakota.
Among the six brothers, as well as sisters of the actor:
- Shane born in 1976;
- Dakota in 1979;
- Kieran in 1982;
- Quinn 1984;
- Christian 1987;
- Rory in 1989.
- half-sister on the paternal side Jennifer in 1970.
As a child, the Culkin family lived in a small apartment in Yorkville and had financial difficulties. His mother worked as a telephone operator, and his father was a sacristan in the local Catholic Church.
For 5 years, the future actor studied at St. Joseph’s School in Yorkville, after which he continued his education at the Vocational Children’s School.
Career
1980 – 1990
He began his career as a film actor at the age of 4.
The first performances were on stage – in particular in the theatrical production of “Bach Babies” at the New York Philharmonic.
During the 1980s, he worked regularly in the theater, and also appeared on television and in films.
In 1985, he starred uncredited in the film “Midnight”.
He received his first role officially credited in February 1988, playing one of the main roles in an episode of the series “The Equalizer”.
Culkin’s film debut took place in 1988 – he played the role of Cy Blue Black in the drama “Rocket Gibraltar”.
The following year, he played Billy Livingston in the romantic comedy See You in the Morning. In particular, he played Miles Russell in the comedy “Uncle Buck”.
1990 – 2000
He gained wide popularity after the release of the comedy “Home Alone” in 1990, where he played the main role of Kevin McCallister. For this role , he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award and became the winner of the American Comedy and Young Artist awards.
In 1991, Culkin voiced the main character in the animated series “Wish Kid”, was the host of the show “Saturday Night Live” and starred in the music video “Black or White” by Michael Jackson.
The actor also played the role of Thomas Sennett in the film “My Girlfriend”. For this work, he was nominated for the MTV Movie Awards in the category “Best Screen Duet” and won the award “Best Kiss” along with Anna Chlumsky.
In 1992, he again played McCallister in the film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. For this role, he received a fee of $ 4.5 million.
The following year, he played Henry in the dramatic thriller The Good Son. The film was a moderate success, however, Culkin was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in the Best Villain category.
In 1993, he played the main role in the film “The Nutcracker”, directed by Peter Martins, and a year later he starred in 3 films at once – “Revenge of Dad”, “Pagemaster” and “Richie Rich”.
After the release of the last tape, he got tired of his acting career and decided to take a break. He went to study at a private high school in Manhattan.
In 1998, he appeared in the music video for the song “Sunday” by the rock band Sonic Youth.
2000 – 2010
Culkin resumed his acting career in 2000. At the same time, he played in the play “Madame Melville”, which was staged in the British West End.
In early 2003, he appeared in a guest role on the NBC sitcom “Will Grace”. His image as an infantile divorce lawyer received positive reviews.
In 2003, Culkin returned to the cinema, starring in the film Club Mania. In this tape, he played Michael Aliga – a party planner, drug addict and murderer.
Soon he played a minor role in the film “Saved”, where he embodied the image of a cynical atheist student. He also started working in voice acting.
In 2006, he published an experimental semi-autobiographical novel “Junior”. In the book, he described his own experience of early fame and a difficult relationship with his father.
In particular, the actor played the main role in the black comedy “Breakfast Sex”, and also embodied the image of Andrew Cross in the NBC television series “Kings”.
In 2009, he appeared in the British advertising campaign of the insurance company Aviva Insurance, which was rebranding.
On August 17, Culkin played in a short episode of the WWE Raw show. During the wrestlers’ duel, a well-known joke from the movie “Home Alone” was used – a bucket of paint was fixed above the door, which hit one of the wrestlers. After that, Culkin looked out the door and said, “It’s not funny.”
2010 – 2020
In February 2010, Culkin appeared in one of the episodes of the online series “The Park”, created by Poppy de Villeneuve for The New York Times.
In April 2011, the actor starred in the experimental film “The Wrong Ferrari”, which was shot by musician Adam Green entirely on the iPhone.
That same month, he also took part in the music video for the song “Stamp Your Name on It”, performed by former Greene band member Jack Dischel, also known as Only Son.
Since 2018, Culkin began to regularly appear in Red Letter Media projects, including the web series: “Best of the Worst”, “re:View” and “Half in the Bag”, as well as in the show “Angry Video Game Nerd”, where he ironically plays himself.
On December 19, 2018, a Google Assistant ad was released, in which Culkin returned to the image of McCallister.
The following year, the actor starred in the film “Hangover in Thailand”.
2020 – tep. Time
In 2021, Culkin joined the cast of season 10 of American Horror Story: Double Session. His work received positive reviews from critics.
In 2022, he appeared in small roles in 2 episodes of the series “Righteous Gemstones”, and also voiced a minor character in the animated film “Entergalaxy”.
On December 1, 2023, he received a personalized star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2025, he voiced the character of Katrick Linksley in the movie “Zootopia 2”, and also joined the cast of the second season of the series “Fallout”.
Marital Status
In 1998, Culkin married actress Rachel Miner. The couple broke up two years later, and the divorce was filed in 2002.
From 2002 to 2010, Culkin was in a relationship with actress Mila Kunis.
In 2017, he began dating actress Brenda Song, whom he met while working on the film “Hangover in Thailand”. In 2021, the couple had a son.
