Macaulay Culkin has openly discussed his strained relationship with his father and former manager, Kit Culkin. The actor recently reflected on his childhood and the lasting impact of his upbringing.
Kit Culkin, 80, managed Macaulay’s career during his child stardom in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Macaulay, now 45, starred in major hits like Home Alone and Uncle Buck at that time.
Kit was widely known as a challenging figure to work with. Macaulay also faced significant personal issues with his father.
Macaulay and his seven siblings, including Oscar winner Kieran Culkin, largely distanced themselves from their father. This occurred after their mother, Patricia Brentrup, gained custody of the children in 1997.
Speaking with Deadline in a recently published interview, Macaulay addressed whether he ever confronted his father about the past. He offered a stark assessment of their connection.
"He had seven beautiful kids and now he has five beautiful grandchildren. None of them want anything to do with him," Macaulay stated. He added, "Nothing. To my knowledge."
Macaulay clarified his stance on his siblings’ potential relationships with their father. He emphasized his priority to protect his own children from similar experiences.
"I have these beautiful kids at home and I don’t want his sins falling upon my kids," he explained. "That’s not the way I do things, and that’s why he needed to go… over there."
He continued with a blunt assessment of his father’s future. "He’s just going to sit there, and he’s probably going to die alone, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s what you deserve.’"
Macaulay believes his father is aware of his past actions. "I don’t need to tell him what I think. He knows. He knows the things he did," he said.
The actor recalled a specific incident where his father yelled at him in front of a friend. Macaulay stated he "didn’t like that" but felt forced to "take his licks."
When he later confronted his father about being "cold," Kit denied the event. "He was like, ‘That didn’t happen.’ No, it did happen. It stuck with me. ‘No, that didn’t happen,’" Macaulay recounted.
Macaulay interpreted this as his father engaging in "mental gymnastics" to erase the memory. He concluded that his father would never acknowledge the past.
As a father himself, Macaulay is now determined to break this cycle of emotional turmoil. He and fiancée Brenda Song share sons Dakota, 4, and Carson, 2.
He actively praises his children, using a word rarely heard in his childhood home: "Proud."
Macaulay shared an anecdote about his son’s school recital, where the child froze onstage. "The first thing I said to him was, ‘I am so proud of you. You got up there in the first place. That’s amazing, dude. I bet you were so scared. But you did it anyway,’" he recounted.
"That’s what I give them. I give them that," Macaulay affirmed. He strives for "unconditional acceptance" with his sons.