Why Macaulay Culkin always tells his kids he's 'proud' of them
Edward Segarra
Macaulay Culkin's childhood was far from perfect, but he's making up for it with the next generation of Culkins.
The "Home Alone" star, who shares two children with longtime partner Brenda Song, opened up about how his turbulent upbringing has inspired his approach to parenting during an appearance on the "Mythical Kitchen" show Tuesday, Dec. 16.
"There's a word that I use in my household, because it's something that I didn't really hear enough when I was a kid, and that's 'proud.' Man, I'm proud of my kids," Culkin, 45, told host Josh Scherer. "You know, I go out there and I'll be [in] like 'the No. 1 movie in America' and yada, yada, yada, stuff like that. Never got the 'P' word."
Culkin shot to child stardom in the early '90s with the role of Kevin McCallister in the Christmas comedy franchise "Home Alone." The series' first film grossed $290.1 million worldwide and earned the then 11-year-old a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a musical or comedy film.
"My kid, he does his recital, and the curtain opens, and he's really excited about it – he's going to play a bug," Culkin recalled on "Mythical Kitchen." "And as soon as the curtain opens, he freezes and he cries, and he runs off stage."
Despite the rocky performance, Culkin said he quickly went to his son's side to offer him encouragement: "I go scoop him up, and the first thing out of my mouth is, 'Man, I'm so proud of you. You were so brave to go out there like that.'"
Culkin's parents, Christopher "Kit" Culkin and Patricia Brentrup, separated during his teen years. The actor has previously alleged that his father Christopher was physically abusive, revealing in a March interview that he's been estranged from his dad for about 30 years.
Culkin told "Mythical Kitchen" that he takes pride in the emotional growth of being able to "love my family the right kind of way." He also credited his partner Song for influencing him as a parent. The couple welcomed their first child, a son named Dakota, in 2021, followed by a second son in 2022.
"The way I learned how to be a father was through Brenda," Culkin said. "Brenda is such a good mother, and she makes me want to be a better father – a better person – but a better father."