Macaulay Culkin was just 4 years old when he began appearing on screen. With no logical reasoning, no decision of his own, he became a child actor charming the hearts of every casting director he met. His parents were very fortunate; their young son was talented enough to become a star. He would be alongside the most famous movie and television personalities and earn a lot of money.
With only four film appearances, the little blond boy landed the starring role in a movie that the world would watch constantly for decades: Home Alone. Since its release in 1990, when Culkin was 10 years old, the film became a classic and the young actor a lovable figure everyone wanted to see. He was innocent but rebellious. However, within a few years, he disappeared from the industry. Hollywood forgot about him, and no one would mention him for at least five years.
When he reappeared, he was a completely different person… Everyone thought he had suffered the same fate as many child actors. That, for some reason or another, he got involved with substances, or perhaps he had been abused; some speculated that he was fed up with fame and had developed psychological problems. The whole world created conjecture as to what might have happened to him. It was also possible that his bond with Michael Jackson, which was publicized throughout the 1990s, had turned into a nightmare. No one knew what was going on. Everyone was asking:
What Happened to Macaulay Culkin?
When the boy returned to the spotlight in 2003, his new film (his first in almost 10 years), was nothing like the innocent comedies he had starred in in the past. What audiences found was not the sweet kid from Richie Rich, the prince from The Nutcracker, or the sadistic child from The Good Son, but a character with a love of drugs, excess, and madness. The job was Party Monster, where he played Michael Alig, a young man considered “the king of the Club Kids,” who went on to create some of the loudest and most memorable parties in New York history.
Culkin had completely lost his boyish image, and what the world saw was a skinny, tired, possibly drug-addicted kid. Since then, Culkin’s image has been the same. In public, he appears unkempt, is rarely seen with a healthy countenance, and shows not a hint of interest in the mainstream.
Macaulay Culkin’s Infamous Relationship with Michael Jackson
One of the few times Culkin agreed to talk about his private life and what he has really done after becoming a millionaire with his classic tapes, was when Michael Jackson was accused of abusing several minors. Among all the claims, the boy decided to come to the musician’s defense, stating that, although they slept in the same room multiple times, their beds were always separate, and the man never tried to get intimate with him or anyone else. Likewise, the actor said that the composer was a very good friend of his, so much so that he is even the godfather of Michael‘s children (among them Paris Jackson), and that he considered that all the accusations were invented by people looking for money.
In that same interview, the young man admitted to being a habitual drug user, but, more importantly, it was his comments about the industry and his separation from his father that gave clues that his relationship with him had deteriorated after gaining fame. That conversation, which was conducted by Larry King, revealed that his father probably wanted him to act in more films, which the boy and his mother refused, so when he finished his studies, he decided to move to Paris, where he spent much of his life.
Substance Abuse
Shortly after the King interview, Culkin was arrested with marijuana, clonazepam, and alprazolam, for which he was taken to jail and released when he posted bail. That minor scandal was enough for rumors that he was an addict to follow him for the next several years. Although there is no hard evidence, different reports throughout that decade and at the beginning of this one, claimed that the boy was going through different addictions, from drugs to heroin. An article published by the Daily Mail claimed that after the man ended his almost 10-year relationship with actress Mila Kunis, he became addicted to heroin, which was “supported” by multiple images in which he looked extremely thin; however, it has never been proven. Likewise, Kunis, who is now married to Ashton Kutcher, has never spoken about her relationship with Macaulay Culkin.
Another reason why the press is suspicious of Culkin’s habits is his relationship with Adam Green and a circle of artists who do not hide their taste for drugs; he is even linked to Pete Doherty of The Libertines, famous for his constant relapses. Likewise, the recent projects he has been involved in tend to be extremely alternative or experimental, so no one in the mainstream scene believes that the man is free of addictions.
Despite all the rumors, the actor is still a millionaire who “goes with the flow,” as he mentioned in a recent interview, stating that he has all his money safe and that he has the opportunity to participate in the projects he wants and that he has no interest in returning to Hollywood. He is still a recognized actor in the indie art house, and that is all that is enough for him. Whether he’s a drug addict or not, whether he’s had a dark past or not, none of that really matters. He is a man who wanted to run away from the spotlight, and he succeeded. The gossip and scandals attributed to him in the tabloids only serve to remind us that he exists, but they will never show all the truth about his life.
Culkin’s most recent project was The Pizza Underground, a comedy rock band that made songs about pizza; that’s just one example of the child actor’s peculiar interests. For him, the Home Alone days are long gone, and that innocent child has disappeared. Nowadays, he hardly ever appears in the popular press and limits himself to having fun with his friends. For him, it doesn’t matter that we keep talking and speculating about his life. He understands that for the audience it is impossible to conceive that a child can grow up and have interests that few understand. It’s part of Hollywood. Not everyone is the star the world wants.