Macaulay Culkin Of 'Home Alone' Fame Is Engaged To Brenda Song

Jan 27, 2022

A PEOPLE Magazine exclusive broke the news that Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song are engaged. What’s more, the magazine reports that Song, 33, was spotted wearing an engagement ring in Beverly Hills earlier this month. Nine months ago, the couple welcomed their first child, a boy named Dakota.

Culkin, 41, is most famous for his role as Kevin McCallister in the blockbuster Hollywood film "Home Alone." As a child, Culkin already had two "Home Alone" movies under his belt, and he starred in 15 films in just a mere seven years. The Hollywood cutie was a busy, successful actor from such a young age. Eventually, Culkin went on to pursue other passion projects, such as singing in a rock band. More recently, he returned as his “Home Alone” character Kevin for a Google assistant advertisement. 

Much like Culkin, Brenda Song also started her career as a child actress and is known for her roles on the Disney Channel. She starred on shows such as "Get a Clue," "Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior" and "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody." Song and Culkin have been dating since 2017, and the couple met while working on set together. The duo were co-stars in the 2019 film "Changeland." Now that Culkin is no longer the kid we all remember on-screen — but instead a grown adult at the age of 41 years old — he has started his own family with Song, who is 33 years old.

Culkin is known to us as one of the greatest child actors of the 1990s, and perhaps his own child will follow in his footsteps, but for now, it's certainly too soon to tell. Read on to find out more about Culkin, Song and their engagement.

Macaulay Culkin was born on August 26, 1980, to Christopher Cornelius "Kit" Culkin, a former Broadway actor, and Patricia Brentrup. One of seven children, Macaulay lived a modest childhood. His younger brother, Kieran Culkin, told Vanity Fair in 2018 that the family lived in a tiny railroad apartment "barely suitable for a couple."

"It was just a hallway, and there were no separating doors, except for the bathroom, which didn't have a lock. They raised seven kids in that apartment—for years! They just kept bringing babies home to this little space."

Also a lover of the acting profession, Kit had once graced Broadway as an up-and-coming star in the '60s. After becoming a father, he took up a job as a church sacristan so the Culkin kids could get staff rates to attend the parish school. Patricia, on the other hand, worked at a telephone-answering service. 

It comes as no surprise that Macaulay's acting career began at the tender age of four. The "Home Alone" star started with small parts in off-Broadway productions before working himself up to more prestigious gigs, including the "Bach Babies" at the New York Philharmonic. Although Macaulay was already landing role and role in New York, his family was still struggling financially. Billy Hopkins, the casting director to give Macaulay his very first job, said that even getting the boy to his rehearsals was a struggle.

"They were so poor I had to use my own money to make sure that he got to and from rehearsal," Hopkins told New York magazine in 2001. "Macaulay would crawl under the bleachers at the theater to look for change that had fallen out of people's pockets. They were like the Beverly Hillbillies."

Brenda Song was born on March 27, 1988, in Carmichael, California, to her parents, who are of Thai and Hmong heritage. Her parents met in Sacramento, California, and birthed Brenda Song along with her two younger brothers, Timmy and Nathan. Like her partner Culkin, Song was also a child star growing up. When Brenda Song was just 6 years old, she and her mother moved to  Los Angeles in order to support her already budding acting career. It wasn't long until the rest of the family joined in on the move, two years later. In an interview with Mochi Mag in 2009, Brenda Song talked about how acting had always been her dream, even when she was a young girl. She said:

"My imagination, as a child, was huge. It’s all I wanted to do."

In the Mochi Mag interview, Brenda also spoke about the influence her parents' Thai and Hmong heritage had on her. On speaking Hmong with her father at home, she said:

"I speak it with a little bit of my valley girl accent. It’s such a close-knit culture, and very family-oriented. As with many Asian cultures, no matter where you branch off, you’re family.”

Song went on to emphasize that her parents were "supportive of anything." Song got her very first role at the age of five, dancing in a Little Caesar's pizza commercial. In 2002, Song signed a contract with Disney and had been a known face on the channel ever since. 

Song's most famous for her roles while working with Disney, including her role as London Tipton on both "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and the spin-off series "The Suite Life on Deck." 

According to Esquire, Song and Culkin officially received their newborn bundle of joy on Monday, April 5, at 1:10 p.m. in Los Angeles, California. The couple has decided to expand their pre-existing family, consisting of a few fish, a blue-headed parrot, a Shiba Inu and their three cats, with the addition of their very own son. Their baby, Dakota Song Culkin, was born healthy and weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Culkin and Song decided to name their son after Culkin's late sister Dakota, who passed away in 2008. The only statement Song and Culkin released to Esquire after the birth was, "We’re overjoyed.”

In a previous interview with Esquire, Song spoke highly of her partner Culkin. She said: 

"You can’t be around him and not be happy."

The elated couple seems to have always had a steady and loving relationship. Esquire writer Ryan D'Agostino wrote that Culkin emphasized the quality relationship he and Brenda had from the very beginning, despite the many doubts Culkin had. The "Home Alone" star said of his relationship with Song:

"I was waiting for the other shoe to drop," but then Culkin eventually realized, "No—sometimes it’s just good."

The couple met 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, Culkin even painted a "yellow brick road" leading to the pair's front door, and Song even bakes bread. The two certainly seem to have a true and wholesome love, and we congratulate them on their new child and engagement. 

Congratulations, Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song! What do you think of their announcement? Did you know that Dakota was already 9 months old? Let us know — and be sure to share this exciting news with friends and family members.