'Home Alone' Kevin's Handsome Brother Kieran Is Also An Actor

Feb 11, 2022 by apost team

This article has been updated for correctness, accuracy and clarity (the role Macaulay Culkin's brother Kieran played in "Home Alone") on Feb. 18th, 2022.

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. 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. Culkin is also now engaged to actress Brenda Song, and the two have a child together.

Macaulay is not the only famous Culkin, though, as his younger brother Kieran is also a well-known and respected actor. The two have even worked together in "Home Alone." Kieran has gone on to achieve great success, winning a handful of awards, and is continuing to carry on the Culkin legacy.

Macaulay Culkin was born on August 26, 1980, to Christopher Cornelius "Kit" Culkin — a former Broadway actor as well as the brother to actress Bonnie Bedelia — 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," Kieran shared. "They raised seven kids in that apartment — for years! They just kept bringing babies home to this little space."

Their parents would spend nights on the sofa and work shifts to ensure one of them was home at all times to look after the kids. While they never married, they lived as if they were. 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.   

According to Emily Gerson Saines, the Culkin family's longtime agent and manager, Patricia (whom she affectionally refers to as Patty,) took her role as the matriarch quite seriously.

"[She] maintained strong family values, like the family having a meal together, the Christmas tree, Thanksgiving," Saines said. "These are all important things to Patty, and she instilled that in her kids."

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Patricia and Kit were eager to get their brood into show business. According to Kieran, the two would seek out every opportunity to get their kids into acting. "My parents' friends were running a little theater, the Light Opera of Manhattan, and whenever a production needed a kid, they were like, 'What age and what gender? We've got seven of them right over here,'" he explained. 

So 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."

Macaulay's on-stage appearances quickly turned him into a sought-after child actor of the '80s. By 1988, he had already landed his first role on the big screen as Cy Blue Black in the hit drama "Rocket Gibraltar." That following year, Macaulay would land roles in two more high-profile films, "See You in the Morning" and "Uncle Buck."

Then, just shy of 10 years old, the child prodigy made his big break as Kevin McCallister in the blockbuster comedy film "Home Alone." The movie quickly proved to be an immense success. Reining in at $476.7 million worldwide, "Home Alone" was listed by Guinness World Records as the highest-grossing live-action comedy of its time. It also became the third most successful film worldwide, just behind "Star Wars" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." In contrast to those films, however, it wasn't the revolutionary CGI effects that ensured "Home Alone"'s success, but rather Macaulay's hilarious portrayal of Kevin McCallister. 

His fame, the actor says, came about almost overnight. He became the talk of the town among the kids in his neighborhood, and he was suddenly surrounded by cameras everywhere he went.

"It was one of those paranoias like, 'There are people in the bushes! There are people in the bushes!' But there really are people in the bushes. It was that kind of thing," Macaulay told New York magazine.

Still just a young kid, he became uncomfortable with the increased attention.

"Hats don't really help," he admitted. "They say if you cover your forehead, you cover 80 percent of what people associate with you, but it doesn't work. When I was 9 years old, I got recognized wearing a ski mask. Maybe it's the lips. I couldn't hide from the world at all." 

Unable to escape the media craze, Macaulay began spending most of his time when he wasn't working inside his family apartment watching TV. His father then quit his job at the church and became Macaulay's manager and the two would spend most of their time on the road.   

By 1993, the boy 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, however. He told New York magazine: 

"I just remember the exact point when I was growing a little more tired — during 'The Good Son,'" Macaulay confessed. "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."

As Macaulay's fame grew, so did his dismay for his Hollywood lifestyle. 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. "My father would hide newspapers from me so I wouldn't read the stuff about him or find out how much I was making," he explained to New York magazine. "I can understand why they did that; they didn't want me running off to my friends saying, 'I just made $8 million!'"

But that information became important during his parents' custody battle. By 1996, he discovered he was worth around $50 million. But even with that much money to his name, the family could not access it amid the ongoing court case.

"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 said. 

The situation had become so dire he realized he had to take matters into his own hands. "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. Kit never showed up on the last day of the trial, instead, he ran away, and Macaulay hasn't seen or spoken to him since. From then on out, he was free to live his life the way he wanted.

The next few years, Macaulay lived a relatively normal life. It was during this time that he lived his youth by rebelling against what was expected of him. He dyed his hair wild colors, smoked cigarettes, and drank before he was of legal age. 

Then in 1998, Macaulay got married to his high school sweetheart Rachel Miner. Unfortunately, the couple would only be together for two short years before rumors of infidelity arose, and they eventually broke up. Nowadays, Macaulay is engaged to Song, and the pair have one child together.

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 is instead pursuing other passions. He has a rock band, The Pizza Underground, 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.  

Today, Macaulay uses his fortune to pursue his own dreams and shows little interest in becoming the famous actor he once was. He told Ellen DeGeneres in 2018:

"I felt like some kid worked really, really hard and I inherited all his money. I had kind of no real sense. It allows me to treat everything like a hobby. I do nothing for my dinner, nowadays. So I can just do all kinds of projects that I want to do whether it's writing or painting or a new website or whatever it is."

Macaulay Culkin's real-life brother Kieran played his cousin in "Home Alone".  Fortunately, fans of the Culkin family can still see Macaulay's younger brother Kieran in action. He has appeared on the HBO series "Succession" since 2018, a role that earned him three Golden Globe Awards and one Primetime Emmy Award nomination. According to NPR, it wasn't until this job that Kieran felt like something clicked. 

Kieran explained, "I can't remember if it was Season 1 or 2 (of 'Succession'), but I remember coming home from work one day and telling my wife, 'It's going really well… I think I know what I want to do with my life. I think I want to be an actor." The actor added, "I kind of hope people like the show I'm on because I'm having such a good time doing it, so I want to keep doing it." 

Although Kieran was faced with his fair share of rejection over the years, he has come to love acting and appreciate the success he now has. He's appeared in several films and television shows and even hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 2021. Kieran has also seen a lot of the industry thanks to his older brother and is proving that the Culkin family is full of talented individuals.

Kerian gratefully found a healthy approach to dealing with the hardships fame brings. "Just be unlikable, it's fun," he told the Guardian. He also revealed some upcoming work, though he didn't give away too many details. "I'll tell you this – it's by far the most terrifying thing I've ever said yes to," Kieran said. "I'm shaking with nerves just thinking about it."

What do you think about Macaulay Culkin's younger brother Kieran? Have you watched any of the projects he's been a part of? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your loved ones, too.