Rising to immense popularity as a child can be pretty exhausting and the same was the case for Macaulay Culkin. The actor who grew to extreme stardom at the mere age of 10 due to his role in Home Alone, which is deemed among the best Christmas movies, the fame arrived with its own sets of challenges for the young actor.

Following his immense rise to stardom, the Home Alone star’s brother Kieran Culkin, who would become a huge star himself, shared his views regarding his brother’s success at the time. Even though Macaulay Culkin’s popularity back then was over the roof, the Succession star felt sorry for his brother and explained the struggles the young actor had to endure.

Home Alone (1990)

Kieran Culkin felt sorry for Macaulay Culkin after his early rise to stardom

While speaking with Esquire, Kieran Culkin revealed that the early rise to fame was pretty hard on his brother. Considering that the Home Alone star was still a kid at the time, he wasn’t able to enjoy his childhood to the fullest, as the actor would be usually bombarded by fans and paparazzi constantly. Kieran Culkin recalled that at the time, even though he wasn’t as successful as his brother, the Succession star wasn’t jealous but felt sorry for Macaulay Culkin, as the actor lost his childhood. Kieren Culkin said,

“Poor f*cking guy…He was little and had to try to accept that level of fame as a reality. Even at that time, as a kid, I remember thinking, ‘That sucks for him.’”
However, the constant breach of his privacy by paparazzi and fans wasn’t the only reason that pushed the Richie Rich star to depart from acting, as he later opened up about the matter.

Macaulay Culkin’s relationship with his father was the reason behind the actor’s hiatus from acting

After working on a plethora of projects and even returning for a Home Alone sequel, the actor would go on to take a long break from the industry due to a variety of reasons. Apart from the breach of privacy that arrived with fame, his abusive father was also the reason he parted ways with acting. The actor later reflected on the situation and revealed how his father exploited and harassed him as a child to generate money and his brother tuned in with him to claim that it was true. Culkin Said,

“[He said] ‘Do good or I’ll hit you.’ He was a bad man. He was abusive. Physically and mentally. I can show you all my scars if I wanted to. I even wanted to take a break for a while and eventually, I was like ‘I’m done guys, hope you all made your money because there is no more coming from me,”

Macaulay Culkin
Despite his initial struggles, Macaulay Culkin did return to the realm of Hollywood for a while but it was on his own terms and currently, the actor is busy being a dedicated family man.