Macaulay Culkin’s quotes on retiring at 14, financial situation
If you ask Macaulay Culkinhe is still a retired actor.
“Technically, I’m retired now,” Culkin, 45, said during an appearance Monday, Dec. 29, at the Podcast ‘SmartLess’. “I’m going to retire and when I find something I like, I’ll retire, do that, and then I’ll retire immediately. Every performance is my last.”
Culkin rose to fame as a child star, starting his career at the age of 4. He has appeared in several iconic films such as My girl And Home alone before retiring at age 14, following the release of his 1994 film Richie Rich.
“I’ve been quit for almost 10 years,” Culkin explained during Monday’s podcast episode. “I just went to high school, fell in love, got drunk for the first time, that kind of thing.”
Despite stepping out of the spotlight, Culkin has returned to Hollywood for several roles over the years. Keep scrolling for his quotes about his career and retirement:
Growing up on movie sets
Culkin’s experience was unique, not only because he was a child star, but also because of who he was surrounded by in the early days of his career.
“When I was younger, I never worked with people my own age. I always worked with adults,” he recalls. “I longed to go to school, to have contemporaries and things like that.”
Deciding to retire
Initially, Culkin had no desire to return to acting after his decision to retire.
“I was done. I thought, I hope you all got your money’s worth because there’s nothing more coming from me,” he explained. “I made my name, I made my mark, I made my fortune.”
His financial situation
Culkin didn’t provide details, but by the time he retired as a teenager, he found himself in a unique financial situation.
“I was in a position where I could just stick my thumb up my ass and play video games all day,” he said. “I could do anything I wanted.”
Macaulay Culkin was the first in his family to become a household name, but he isn’t the last. Before scoring his breakout role as Kevin McCallister in Home Alone, Macaulay was surrounded by actors in his family. His father, Kit Culkin, was a Broadway actor who appeared in several theater productions. Kit’s brother Terry […]
He got the “lion’s share” of money for every gig he booked as a child. But at some point it “stopped” being fun for Culkin.
“I wanted to take a break, and I said I was feeling really stressed,” he recalls. “I wasn’t heard. That was something that really affected me, and affected my work and things like that. It was like, ‘Oh, I’m on the hamster wheel and I can’t get off.’ Once I had some autonomy and freedom of choice in my life, I grabbed it with both hands.”
No interest in anything else
While he was on a break from his acting career, Culkin admitted that he wasn’t really interested in pursuing another career.
“I was kind of wandering around trying to figure out what I wanted in life and so on,” he said. “This was a calling that found me. I didn’t find it. I wanted to explore that in a different way, on my terms.”
Why he returned
Culkin explained that he loves acting – which is the only reason he is taking roles now.
“It’s pay, fun and prestige,” he explained. “That’s the only reason to do a gig.”
