“Culkin, you had a good run.”
That’s Macaulay Culkin, summarizing his life and career during his first major interview in over a decade.
The former child star (Home Alone, My Girl) was just interviewed by UK newspaper The Guardian. The occasion, of sorts, was Culkin filming a commercial in Europe.
But the writer’s motivations were a little more encompassing: he was conducting a consummate mental checkup on a person who most of us grew up with and then watched disappear from the spotlight, save for an occasional indie film or sighting with his (now ex-) girlfriend Mila Kunis.
Good news: Culkin, 35, spends most of his time in France and seems happy to sort of make it up as he goes along.
A few things we learned.
He’s (sort of) working!
The interview takes place in Spain, where Culkin is filming an ad for a price comparison site called Compare the Market. “We hammered that sucker out pretty quickly,” he says. “The biggest scene was me sitting on a bench eating ice cream.” Outside of that, he might “take the next year off.” That said, Culkin is a roadie for the band Har Mar Superstar — which might explain why yours truly saw him at Har Mar’s New York City show in June.
He won’t/can’t talk about Michael Jackson
As a child actor, Culkin was called as a defense witness to the late pop singer’s child molestation trial. All the actors says is “It’s not that it’s a painful topic …” before he’s cut off by his publicist.
He doesn’t get why people care
“I was thinking about this the other day — I’d crossed the wrong street, picked up a tail, suddenly there’s a crush of 20 paparazzi. Then people with camera phones get involved. I don’t think I’m worthy of that.”
He’s self-aware
Most of his recent projects — a novel, a web comedy, his commercials, a cameo in Zoolander 2 — trade in on audience perception of what a former child star would be doing now. “It suits my personality and sense of humor.”
He dislikes Donald Trump, who cameoed in Home Alone 2
“He’s like the Candyman, we have to stop saying his name.”
He’s an artist … of sorts
According to the article, Culkin has done a series of paintings, including one that features the cast of Seinfeld on the set of Wheel of Fortune being painted nude by He-Man. He also plays with Pizza Underground, a Velvet Underground tribute act that replaces lyrics with pizza puns.
Journalists shouldn’t overdo the “Kevin from Home Alone is now on drugs” angle
Based off his “gaunt” appearance a few years back, rumors flew about Culkin’s drug habits. Says the actor: “I was not pounding six grand of heroin every month or whatever.”
He offers some pretty damn solid life advice
“I try to figure out what makes me happy — and not in a superficial way. I keep my soul fit.”
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