CONTENT WARNING: This post contains brief mentions of physical and emotional abuse.
But working so much as a child was not easy for Macaulay. He has spoken openly in the past about his difficult relationship with his father, Keith Culkin, who managed his child acting career throughout the '80s and '90s, putting a lot of pressure on him.
During this period of his life, Macaulay had minimal downtime. In 2001 he told New York magazine: “I just remember the moment when I started to get a little tired – during Good son. I had already done one or two things that year and I just said to Keith, “Look, I'm really tired and I don't go to school as often as I'd like; I really need to get some rest. He said, “Yeah, sure,” and the next thing I knew, I was on the next set doing the next thing, and it kind of clicked in my brain: Fine. There's basically nothing I can do to stop it.“
In the same interview, and on other occasions thereafter, Macaulay described Keith's behavior as “offensive“, claiming that his father would physically abuse him, his siblings and his mom Patricia Brentrup. In 2018, he doubled down on his claims against Keith, claiming WTF with Marc Maron podcast: “He was a bad man. He was cruel, physically and mentally – I can show you all my scars if I want.”
Given all this, you can understand why Macaulay might find it difficult to enjoy watching his early films like the rest of us do. However, it appears that his view may have changed in recent years.
For some context, Macaulay has two children with his fellow star fiancee, Brenda Song. Their first son, Dakota, was born in April 2021, and their second son, Carson, was born in December 2022. Macaulay and Brenda very personal when it comes to their sons; however, it is clear that they are both thriving as parents.
Now, having appeared on Mythical cuisine Last dishes In the series, Macaulay said that watching his films through the eyes of his children helped him heal his relationship with films and move past the personal difficulties that may have surrounded them.
“Now I can watch this movie,” he said, meaning Home alone. “Now I can see almost all my work. It takes on a completely different meaning.”
“Now that I have kids I can show it to them and I see the joy it brings them. It's different now, the game has changed for me,” he continued. “It used to be a concert. Now it's something I can stand behind and be proud of and show my kids. I don't run from it, I don't hide from it. If anything, I embrace it.”
Macaulay's comments come just months after he remembered how John Candy tried my best to check on him while they were filming Uncle Buck together in the late 80s.
“I think he always had this really great instinct. I think he saw… It wasn't hard to see how difficult my father was. It was no secret. He was already a monster,” Macaulay recalled. “I think John looked a little askance, like, ‘Is everything okay there? Are you okay? Good afternoon? Everything is fine? Is everything okay at home? Fine”.
After everything he's been through, I'm so happy that Macaulay can finally enjoy these films. You can find it full interview here.
