This may shock you, but Macaulay Culkin doesn’t watch Home Alone during the holidays. The actor, who became a household name thanks to the 1990 hit, recently sat down for an interview with Ellen DeGeneres to promote his new parody lifestyle blog and podcast Bunny Ears; in it, he revealed that he tends to ignore his past work.
“I don’t really watch them all that often,” Culkin said of the films that made him a child star. Home Alone, in particular, is one he tends to avoid, he said, recalling that when the cast reunited for a 15-year anniversary DVD commentary, he realized it was the first time he had seen the movie in years.
“It’s background radiation at Christmastime,” lamented Culkin. “I’ve had people who want to sit down and watch it with me, which is both flattering and creepy.”
If anything, Culkin continued, when he watches the film, he can’t help but be distracted by memories of what was going on behind the scenes. “I’m remembering that day on set, like, how I was hiding my Pepsi behind the couch. I can’t watch it the same way other people can.”
Still, the film remains a holiday classic—and the season torments poor Culkin to this day. Nearly 30 years later, strangers still come up and ask him to do the classic Home Alone face. Save your breath, folks; he won’t be doing that again anytime soon.
“No. Been there, done that already. I’m 37 now, O.K.? O.K., mom?” Culkin joked.
Culkin also shared that it was slightly disorienting to turn 18 and finally get hold of the money he earned as an actor.
“I felt like some kid worked really, really hard and I inherited all of his money,” he said. “It allows me to treat everything like a hobby. I do nothing for my dinner nowadays. I can do all kinds of projects that I want to do.“
Indeed, after a streak of hit movies, Culkin stopped acting in 1994, opting out of child stardom in order to live a somewhat normal life. His exit from the industry came at a difficult time in his personal life; in 1995, his parents separated, resulting in a fierce custody battle over Macaulay and his six siblings. Culkin has reportedly been estranged from his father ever since.
He has, however, acted in a handful of projects since then, most notably the 2003 club-kids drama Party Monster and the 2004 dramedy Saved!, though none of those projects have earned the same acclaim as his early work. Culkin has made headlines for more sordid things, however, like his 2004 arrest for drug possession, and shocking 2012 photos that appeared to show him looking dangerously gaunt, inspiring rumors that he was addicted to drugs. “No, I was not pounding six grand of heroin every month or whatever,” he said in a later interview with The Guardian, dispelling concerns.
In the intervening years, Culkin has since developed a more lighthearted public persona. He joined a Velvet Underground parody band called the Pizza Underground. He started a T-shirt meme war with Ryan Gosling. And in 2015, he starred in a viral short as a disturbed, grown-up version of his Home Alone character—which apparently didn’t quite convey the message that he’d like to be done with Kevin McCallister once and for all.
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Sorry Home Alone fans, but don’t expect to run into Macaulay Culkin around the holidays.
The actor made an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday, where he opened up about the effect the 90s hit film has had on his life nearly 28 years after it first came out.
“I definitely don’t [go out]. It’s my season,” Culkin said of staying indoors around Christmas. “It’s Macaulay season. I try to go out less and less around that time of year.”
The actor said it’s been a “curse and a blessing” being constantly recognized by fans on the street.
“How can a person look too much like himself? It’s a curse and a blessing,” he said. “I can get into any restaurant I want without a reservation, but while I’m there everyone’s staring at me.”
Macaulay Culkin Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock; SPW/Splash News
And while Culkin, 37, said he’s learned to navigate his fame, he still gets a little tired of being asked to recreate the iconic Home Alone poster.
“I say no,” he said. “I’ve already been there and done that. I’m 37 now.”
Culkin also opened up about his longtime break from Hollywood, saying he was eager to live a normal life.
“I was tired of it, to be honest, I did like 14 movies in six years or something like that,” he said of being a child actor. “I was away from home a lot. I was away from school. I needed something else… It was great to be around people my own age for once… It was the smartest thing I could have possibly done was to take eight years off.”
20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection
As for the money he made as a child, Culkin said he didn’t see any of it until he turned 18.
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia -- Macaulay Culkin begitu hit dengan sosok Kevin McCallister dalam film Home Alone (1990) dan Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Namun sejatinya ia ogah menonton film yang membawanya kepada kesuksesan itu.Culkin mengungkapkan unek-uneknya itu ketika ia menjadi bintang tamu acara Ellen DeGeneres, edisi Senin (24/3).Mantan aktor cilik itu mengungkapkan ia sering mendapatkan permintaan untuk memasang kembali reaksi wajah ikonisnya dalam film tersebut. Namun ternyata permintaan itu membuatnya jengah."Saya pernah melakukannya, sudah selesai. Saya kini 37, OK? OK, Mom?" canda Culkin menirukan jawaban yang selalu ia berikan ketika ada yang meminta wajah terkejut sembari memegang pipi khas Kevin.Bahkan bukan hanya ogah menjadi sosok Kevin, Culkin juga tak ingin menonton kembali film yang kerap diputar saat Natal tersebut."Film itu seperti radiasi di waktu Natal. Orang selalu meminta saya menonton itu dengan mereka, itu serasa seperti sanjungan namun mengerikan," kata Culkin.Dia menjabarkan bahwa ia selalu ingat yang terjadi di lokasi syuting kedua film box office tersebut. Hal itu yang menyebabkan ia tak bisa lagi mengenang film tersebut."Saya tidak dapat melihatnya sama seperti yang dilihat orang lain," katanya.Namun ia menyadari kesuksesan dua film tersebut masih terjadi hingga saat ini. Bahkan, diberitakan, ia berkelakar bahwa sudah menjadi nasibnya untuk membuat momen Natal sebagai "musim saya".Home Alone merupakan film yang disutradarai Chris Colombus dan dibintangi Culkin ketika masih berusia 10 tahun.Film itu tayang perdana pada 16 November dan mendapatkan kesuksesan fantastis, dengan bujet hanya US$18 juta, film itu mampu meraup pendapatan hingga US$476,7 juta.Berkat kesuksesan tersebut, Home Alone menjadi film komedi live action tersukses sepanjang masa di Amerika Serikat.Kesuksesan ini masih menular untuk sekuelnya, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York yang mendapatkan box office sebesar US$359 juta dari bujet sebesar US$20 juta.
It's the most secluded time of the year.
"Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin doesn't want to relive his classic Christmas movie every year — so much so that he tries to avoid leaving his house during the holiday season.
"I definitely don't (go out). It's my season," Culkin joked when asked by Ellen DeGeneres on "Ellen," earning a big laugh from the crowd.
"It's Macaulay season," he said. "I try to go out less and less around that time of year."
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Culkin — who starred as Kevin McAllister in the 1990 flick — says he doesn't watch "Home Alone" every year like so many of his fans do.
Macaulay Culkin told Ellen DeGeneres that he doesn't watch "Home Alone" every Christmas like many of his fans. (Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.)
There's still no way for him to entirely distance himself from the movie, however, as fans regularly ask him to mimic the famous scene where he places his hands on his face and drops his jaw in terror.
The actor, 37, admits he typically declines those requests.
"I've already been there, done that already, guys," he deadpanned on the episode airing Monday. "I'm 37 now, OK?"
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Culkin was 10 years old when "Home Alone" premiered, catapulting him into widespread — and lasting — fame. He starred in the sequel two years later in addition to taking on several other roles, but ultimately went on an eight-year break from acting beginning in 1994.
Macaulay Culkin starred as Kevin McAllister on “Home Alone.” (Movieclips/20th Century Fox/Youtube)
He admits he had grown "tired" of the demanding lifestyle of a child star, and upon leaving the industry for a while he was able to go back to school and resume a more traditional childhood.
"I was away from home a lot," Culkin told DeGeneres. "I was away from school. I needed something else. … It was the smartest thing I could have possibly done."
He's since resumed acting as an adult with a string of smaller roles, including a recurring cameo as himself on "The Jim Gaffigan Show" in 2015-16.
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