How Macaulay Culkin Survived Challenges with His Father as a Child but Managed to Leave His Sorrows Behind and Build a Happy Family

Macaulay Culkin was one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s. But after tasting the fame at so young age, Culkin chose to live a reclusive life away from the red carpet and cameras. The actor has been hiding his personal life for years, and very few people know much about it. But meeting the Disney star Brenda Song became pivotal for him and changed everything.

Macauley’s controlling father forced him to support the entire family financially.

Macauley Culkin’s family, including his six siblings, barely made ends meet and lived in a tiny apartment in New York. But thanks to the young actor’s striking success, the Culkins moved to a more spacious place where his father treated himself to a luxury bedroom while Macaulay and his brother had to sleep on the sofa.

According to the actor, his father was controlling and greedy. He established a hectic filming schedule for his son which Macauley had to adhere for 4 years. In addition, the boy was not allowed to choose projects himself. “I’ve done 14 films, and I’ve never read one of the scripts.”

Mr. Culkin made false promises to his son by saying that he would let him take a break from filming. But new projects appeared again and again, while the boy desperately needed rest. This is why Macaulay felt relief when his movies failed at the box office.

Eventually, the famous actor went on hiatus when he turned 14. “When I stopped, I just thought it was over and I was never, ever going to do it again... I was just hoping to disappear off the face of the earth,” Macauley recalled.

At 17, Culkin sued his father to take control of his own finances and won. This was how his father’s tyranny ended, and Macaulay hasn’t seen him ever since.

His first marriage at the age of 18 was to a girl who dumped him thrice.

In 1998, the Home Alone star married his high school classmate Rachel Miner. The girl had dumped Culkin thrice, so he had nothing else to do but to marry her, “She’d broken up with me 3 times before, and so the last time we were going out I said, ’Marry me now before you dump me again.’ ”

But this love didn’t last long. The couple divorced 2 years later. According to Macaulay, their relationship was affected by his seclusive lifestyle because he was tired of being in the spotlight.

Culkin dated Mila Kunis for 8 years, and they broke up on not really good terms.

However, the actor didn’t stay single for long. In 2001, Culkin started dating Mila Kunis. They were together for 8 years. During this time, the couple kept their relationship private. Mila didn’t mind this at all because she saw with her own eyes how abnormally fans reacted to her boyfriend.

Mila was by his side when his older sister died. He also suffered and struggled with a few unhealthy habits. He was even arrested once and received a suspended prison sentence.

In 2011, Macaulay and Mila broke up. Many years later, Kunis revealed that breaking up with him was very painful, and she regrets how she did it.

He met his love on set.

The actor didn’t have any serious relationships for a while after Mila Kunis, but everything changed in 2017. At the time, Culkin decided to restart his acting career, which he had given up almost 10 years earlier, and went to Thailand to film the movie Changeland. The name of the movie turned out to be fateful. During the shooting, he met Brenda Song, who changed his life.

When the filming wrapped up, Brenda and Macaulay were seen together in Los Angeles. So, rumors spread that the actors were dating. Of course, the habitually secretive Culkin didn’t comment on them.

The following summer, the actor shared on his podcast that he dreamed of making a family with his girlfriend and wanted to have kids with her. Brenda was also over the moon with happiness. When talking about her boyfriend, she said, “People don’t realize how incredibly kind and loyal and sweet and smart he is. Truly what makes Mack so special is that he is so unapologetically Mack.”

In 2021, Culkin’s dream came true, he and Brenda had a son. They named him Dakota in honor of his late sister.

According to Song, Culkin is a very caring and attentive parent and partner. “Instead of having set duties, we just feel each other out. I’ll be putting my son down and my partner is like, ’Let me feed the animals and get dinner ready.’ ”

After having a baby, the celebrity couple took their relationship to a new level. They got engaged and are now preparing for the wedding. A source close to the couple said, “...they are and always have been very in love with each other,” and want more children.

We wish Macaulay and Brenda all the happiness in the world.