Kieran Culkin on Brother Macaulay's Childhood Fame: 'Poor F*cking Guy'
For the past few decades, the Culkin name has been about as recognizable as the surname Roy in HBO's Succession. Of the seven Culkin siblings, Macaulay, Kieran, and Rory were the three that pursued acting professionally. What followed were childhood roles in Home Alone, Igby Goes Down, and Signs, which each changed their lives forever at a very young age.
Now, in Esquire's new digital cover story featuring Kieran Culkin, the Succession actor opened up about his family and their experience under the spotlight. "Poor fucking guy," Kieran Culkin told Esquire of his brother Macauley, whom they all call Mack. "He was little and having to try to accept that level of fame as reality... Even at that time, as a kid, I remember thinking, That sucks for him." Culkin followed Mack into Hollywood soon after Home Alone, most recently earning critical acclaim from playing Roman Roy throughout all four seasons of Succession.
Despite his character running a massive multimedia conglomerate in the series, Kieran Culkin has mistrusted the media ever since his brother's big role in Home Alone, because of how the press treated his family. Trips to Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch and paparazzi trailing the boys everywhere only exacerbated an already insane relationship with childhood celebrity. During his parents' divorce in 1995, a 13-year-old Culkin delivered a handwritten note to court requesting to bar the media from entering the room. "Your Honor," he wrote, "I ask you please to spare my family any further embarrassment by letting the press in the courtroom. It has already been hard on us and I see no point to it."
Culkin has since come around to interviews and the media during his time on Succession, baring his thoughts on the importance of family. At the end of a hard day on set, he just wants to spend time with his wife, Jazz Charton, and their two children. "I feel like what I’m supposed to do is be a stay-at-home dad," he told Esquire. "That’s where I feel like I’m the most me. And anything that takes me away from that is wrong."
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