Macaulay Culkin Reveals Why He Walked Away from Acting After ‘Home Alone’

Macaulay Culkin has opened up about why he stepped away from acting after becoming a household name with “Home Alone.”

The 45-year-old actor explained that fame as a child star wasn’t as fun as it seemed. He told Mythical Kitchen that what he really wanted was a normal life with people his own age.

“What I wanted is to be with people my own age. You have to remember: A lot of the stuff I did when I was a kid … I’m not doing ensembles. It’s me,” Culkin said. He joked that filming the first “Home Alone” felt like being alone on a deserted island, referencing the 2000 film “Cast Away” starring Tom Hanks.

“People will be like, ‘Oh, what was it like working with Joe Pesci?’ I’m like, ‘Have you seen the movie?’ We do maybe two scenes together. And then me, in a house, by myself, almost home alone,” he added.

After starring in the 1994 comedy “Richie Rich,” Culkin felt the urge to live a more typical childhood. “I wanted to go out and I wanted to date girls, and I wanted to hang out with people my own age. I wanted to, you know, go to a party,” he shared.

“I can’t tell you how many bar mitzvahs I missed.” He compared child fame to toothpaste, saying, “you can’t un-ring that bell, you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.”

Culkin also explained that acting wasn’t something he actively sought out. His father, Kit Culkin, had taken his older siblings to get headshots, and his mother decided to take him along. “Out of the gate — my first audition it was just like, booked, booked, booked,” he recalled. “I didn’t find it. It found me. That’s kind of why I came back around to it.”

Following his break from acting, Culkin returned to the screen with the 2003 film “Party Monster.” Recently, he shared ideas about revisiting Kevin McCallister in a “Home Alone” sequel during his Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin tour, according to People. He imagined Kevin as a busy single parent whose own child ends up setting traps for him. “I wouldn’t be completely allergic to it. It would have to be just right,” he said.

Culkin also revealed that his young children, Dakota, 4, and Carson, 3, whom he shares with fiancée Brenda Song, don’t recognize him from the classic film. “They have no idea that I’m Kevin,” he joked. Fans were also treated to some behind-the-scenes stories from his time filming the iconic movies.

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