Macaulay Culkin's Success As A Child Star Propelled His Net Worth Into Millions And Maintains His Lifestyle Even Today

Dec 31, 2021 by apost team

Macaulay Culkin is known to people the world over as the adorable yet mischievous Kevin McAllister, the little boy from the "Home Alone" movies from the '90s. And even though he grew up and continued working as an actor, albeit in more niche and alternative roles, he's never really shaken his image as the "Home Alone" kid.

In the decades since he first burst onto our screens, the details of Macaulay's life as he grew up have come to light. The picture of a happy child actor that we might have glimpsed on-screen was shattered when the world learned about his home life. Pushed to work by his father, it was only in his teen years when his parents were divorcing that Macaulay was able to gain independence and live his life on his own terms.

Since then, he's led a much quieter life outside of the public eye. And we don't blame him. Thankfully, though, he has found his passion for acting once again. In the last two decades, he's appeared in various movies and shows and even reprised the role that made him most famous, albeit in a commercial instead of a full-length feature film. 

After turning 41 in August 2021, Macaulay played up the association that the public has with his childhood acting career with a joke that made his fans feel incredibly old. Considering many of us grew up watching him in movies, it resonated strongly with the public. Nowadays, Culkin is all grown up and has even started a family of his own. Read on to learn more about the actor's life after 'Home Alone,' and to see who Culkin is sharing his future with as an adult.

By 1993, Culkin had become one of the highest-paid child actors in Hollywood, earning a whopping $4.5 million for his role in "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York." He had also landed high-profile jobs in multiple films, including "The Good Son," "The Nutcracker," and "Getting Even With Dad." Still, Macaulay was growing tired of life in Hollywood — he had, after all, starred in 15 films in seven years. That didn't mean much to his power-hungry father, Kit Culkin, however. 

Macaulay told New York magazine: 

"I just remember the exact point when I was growing a little more tired — during 'The Good Son,' I had already done one or two things that year, and I just said to Kit, 'Listen, I'm really getting tired and I'm not at school as much as I'd like to be; I really need some time off.' He said, 'Yeah, sure,' and the next thing I knew I was on the next set doing the next thing, and it just kind of clicked in my brain: Okay. There's basically nothing I can do to make this stop."

But in 1994, he found his way out; His parents had split, so the young actor took his chance to quit acting and pursue a normal life as an adolescent. He attended a private school in Manhattan and turned down multiple acting jobs. "I was just hoping to disappear off the face of the earth," Macaulay told Time in 2001. 

At the time of Kit and Patricia's split, Macaulay said he had no idea how much money he had actually made throughout his career. That information became important during his parents' custody battle.

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"Basically, I had millions and millions of dollars in the bank and my mother couldn't pay the rent because she was spending all of her money on lawyers," Macaulay explained to New York magazine.

He added, "We were about to get evicted from our apartment. The only way I could get access to that money was to take my father's name off it, but I didn't want to make it messy, so I figured I'd take both their names off." And with that, Macaulay's complicated relationship with his father came to an end.

It wasn't until the early 2000s when Macaulay returned to acting, making his comeback in London's West End in the play "Madame Melville." In 2003, the actor made a guest appearance on "Will & Grace" as Karen Walker's goofy divorce lawyer.

Since then, he's only taken up scarce acting projects and has instead focused on picking up projects he feels passionate about. He started a rock band, The Pizza Underground, in 2013 and launched a parody lifestyle website called Bunny Ears in 2018. That same year, Macaulay delighted fans by returning to his "Home Alone" character Kevin in a Christmas ad for Google Assistant.  

In 2017 Culkin met actress Brenda Song in Thailand, working on the set of the film "Changeland," which was directed by Culkin's friend Seth Green. The two got together and eventually moved in together. 

According to Esquire, Song and Culkin officially received a newborn bundle of joy on April 5, 2021, in Los Angeles, California. Their baby, Dakota Song Culkin, was born healthy, and Culkin and Song decided to name him after Culkin's late sister Dakota, who passed away in 2008.

Currently, his net worth is estimated at $18 million, which is more than enough for him to live off of for the rest of his life. 

Are you a fan of Culkin? Did you know he had a child of his own? Let us know and feel free to pass this on to any other Macaulay Culkin fans you may know!