In the current Hollywood landscape, there are several famous actors who started their careers as child stars. For example, Jason Bateman, Reese Witherspoon, Ethan Hawke, Felicity Jones, Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson, Christian Bale, and Jake Gyllenhaal all started acting as youngsters.
Given that so many former kid stars appear to be well adjusted from the outside looking in, it certainly seems like being a young actor doesn’t preclude you from having a healthy childhood. However, there also are many examples of former child stars who got in serious legal trouble and otherwise went through some dark times as adults.
When it comes to Macaulay Culkin, he may just be the most fascinating former child star in the world. After all, he seems to be a happy guy but at the same time, he’s gone through a lot of the struggles that a lot of former kid actors do. For example, it has come out that Culkin’s father disowned him and it likely won’t surprise anyone that Macaulay’s fame and fortune played a role in that.
A Unique Path
When a lot of people enjoy success at a young age, they sadly spend the rest of their lives trying to recreate the circumstances that led to those achievements. Thankfully for Macaulay Culkin and everyone in his life, he seems to be very content to have left all of the pressure he experienced during his childhood in the rearview mirror.
As an adult, Macaulay Culkin seems to be extremely uninterested in the trappings of fame. Instead, it seems like Culkin has spent his adult life embracing anything that brings him joy. For example, most former celebrities would be too worried about being judged to create a pizza-themed comedy rock band or a website and podcast called Bunny Ears. Thankfully for Culkin, he did both of those things despite the world’s prying eyes.
On top of pursuing anything that catches his fancy, it appears to be clear that Macaulay Culkin has grown up to be a great romantic partner. For example, after they dated for many years, Mila Kunis made it clear that she doesn’t regret dating Culkin and she blames herself for their breakup. Furthermore, Culkin has been in a relationship with the actor Brenda Song for several years and they still seem very happy together as they bring up their son who was born in 2021.
Bitter Divorce
When moviegoers watched Macaulay Culkin on the big screen, he came across as a very confident and charming youngster. In retrospect, that seems incredible given that all evidence points to the idea that Culkin had a traumatic childhood. For example, Macaulay’s parents went through a very bitter divorce and that had a pronounced effect on the young actor’s life. In fact, Culkin had three major movies come out the year his parents split but their split had a profound effect on his career as he wouldn’t headline a film from 1995 until 2003.
When Patricia and Kit Culkin went to court to battle over their divorce, the biggest bone of contention was which one of them would get custody of their kids, including Macaulay. Sadly, as is the case with a lot of divorces, Macaulay’s parents dragged him into their legal battle. At the time, Macaulay reportedly sided with his mother as she accused his father of “excessive drinking, physical abuse and unfaithful behavior”.
Broken Relationship
On top of Macaulay Culkin siding with his mom during his parents’ divorce, there are several other reasons why he has a broken relationship with his father. For example, during an appearance on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Macaulay explained that his father tried to be an actor and Kit Culkin was jealous of his son’s success. On top of that, Macaulay has spoken out about his father abusing him and his seven siblings when they were children.
Another thing that came between Macaulay and Kit Culkin is money. Before Macaulay became a superstar, his massive family was struggling to get by. As a result, it is pretty clear that Macaulay quickly became the golden goose when he started being paid millions to star in films. Fortunately for Macaulay, he still gets to enjoy much of the money he made as a kid since he was able to make sure that his parents didn’t control his riches. In the past, it has often been reported that Macaulay sued his parents to emancipate himself and keep their paws off his cash. However, during a 2020 Esquire interview, Macaulay stated that he never took his parents to court.
“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 f***ing pinkie in the pie.”
Even though Macaulay Culkin didn’t sue his father, the fact remains that he cut his dad off financially. Even though Macaulay did the right thing for himself, it seems clear that his dad sees that and the fact that his son once sided with his mom as a betrayal. After all, when he spoke to a Daily Mail reporter in 2016, Kit Culkin spoke about disowning his son Macaulay. “I don’t consider him a son anymore.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGifnqqVqHq4tNhmpJqbkaq5osWMnKylo5mjwG6ywK2fnqpdmba0u9annJ1lmJ66cA%3D%3D