Macaulay Culkin Opens Up About The Real Reason He Left Acting After ‘Home Alone’
Macaulay Culkin has opened up about why he stepped away from acting after starring in the hit holiday film “Home Alone” and its sequel. The actor, now 45, said he wanted a normal childhood and to spend time with people his own age.
Speaking on Mythical Kitchen, Culkin explained, “What I wanted is to be with people my own age. You have to remember: A lot of the stuff I did when I was a kid … I’m not doing ensembles. It’s me.”
He joked about being mostly alone in the films, comparing it to Tom Hanks’ “Cast Away”: “You’ll watch ‘Home Alone’ and I go, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m in “Cast Away,” except he had a volleyball to talk to.’”
After his 1994 film “Richie Rich,” Culkin decided to take a break from acting to experience life outside of Hollywood. “I wanted to go out and I wanted to date girls, and I wanted to hang out with people my own age. I wanted to, you know, go to a party,” he said, adding that he missed many typical childhood experiences like bar mitzvahs.
Culkin likened fame to toothpaste, saying, “you can’t un-ring that bell, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.”
The actor shared that he didn’t actively seek fame—it came to him by chance. His father, Kit Culkin, took his older siblings to get headshots, and his mother suggested he go along. Culkin recalled, “Out of the gate — my first audition it was just like, booked, booked, booked. It’s funny, this is a line of work — I didn’t find it. It found me.”
After years away from Hollywood, Culkin returned to the screen with 2003’s “Party Monster.” He recently teased the possibility of revisiting his iconic role as Kevin McCallister in a new “Home Alone” project.
During his Nostalgic Night tour, he shared an idea where Kevin is a divorced or widowed father, and his own son ends up locking him out and setting traps, a clever twist on the original premise. Culkin admitted he wouldn’t be completely opposed to the project if done right.
Culkin also revealed a funny family moment: his sons with fiancée Brenda Song, Dakota, 4, and Carson, 3, don’t recognize him as Kevin from the films.
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