‘Home Alone’ Star Macaulay Culkin Has 3 Big Rules for Fans
Few actors knew stardom at a young age quite like Macaulay Culkin. Culkin starred as the charismatic Kevin McCallister in the "Home Alone" films, indulging in his own hijinks while his family continued to leave him out of their yearly vacation.
Culkin was once the world's biggest child star and remains a pretty famous and recognizable person today, but says that he's taking steps to keep both parts of his life separate from one another.
During an appearance on "SmartLess" with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, Culkin requested that fans keep a respectable distance from him if he happens to be with his family in public.
Culkin's Rules of Engagement for Fans
“Don’t approach me when I’m at the dinner table. I don’t like that. Don’t approach me when I’m with my kids,” Culkin said. He has two children with fellow child actor and former Disney star Brenda Song.
Culkin also asked that fans refrain from following him into bathrooms, adding that he has realized his role in these kinds of interactions. “I just realized that I’m in charge of the social contract,” Culkin said. “I’m in charge of the interaction. I can guide this interaction.”
Being in charge of his life and career has been a theme of Culkin's adult life. He rose to fame through the "Home Alone" films and other movies like "Richie Rich" as a child, but began to slow down as he reached adolescence.
He admitted that he “didn’t really see the point of it to get a degree in general" during his younger years, saying that it would have "made sense" to study a particular topic like English, but that he simply didn't have the desire to pursue higher education.
Culkin's Decision to Step Away From Hollywood
In an appearance on the YouTube series "Mythical Kitchen," Culkin noted that he wanted to be around his peers in age, something he wouldn't have been able to do while continuing to go after a career in Hollywood.
“What I wanted was to be with people my own age. A lot of the stuff I did when I was a kid — I wasn’t doing ensembles. It was me," Culkin said.
“I wanted to go out. I wanted to date girls. I wanted to hang out with people my own age. I wanted to go to a party. I can’t tell you how many bar mitzvahs I missed."
The actor also noted that he essentially fell into show business by happenstance, joining his older siblings when his father took them to get professional portraits.
“Out of the gate — first audition — booked, booked, booked," Culkin noted. “This is a line of work I didn’t find. It found me. That’s kind of why I came back around to it.”
At 45, Culkin is now in charge of his career, taking roles and projects on his own terms. He's applied that level of control and agency to his personal life as well, keeping his family time separate from his work schedule and engagements with fans.