Macaulay Culkin was one of the biggest stars in the world of cinema during the first half of the nineties, but in 1994 he decided to retire, being several years away from the world of acting. Later he has reappeared in several series and films, but in no case did he manage to regain that connection that the actor, who just turned 41, had with the public.

In fact, Culkin released three films in 1994, ‘Getting Even With Dad’, ‘The Pagemaster’ and ‘Richie Boy’, all of them resounding box office flops, something that alone could already explain that the protagonist of ‘Home Alone’ disappeared from Hollywood, but you have to take a look at his family life to better understand the actor’s motives.

A complicated divorce

Culkin’s relationship with his father after the success of ‘Home Alone’ was never very good, as his father threatened him with phrases such as “Do good or I’ll hit you”. In addition, his parents took 15% of his income and there was a point where the relationship between the two deteriorated so much that a divorce was inevitable. It was then that the actor wanted to make sure he maintained control over his wealth, as he declared in Esquire just a few months ago: “It’s always misconstrued, that I ‘emancipated’ myself from my parents. I legally took my parents’ names off of my trust fund and found an executor, someone who would look over my finances”.

The actor himself commented that he wanted to withdraw both parents so that it doesn’t look like he was taking sides for none of them, but the truth is that he was not at all satisfied with the use that was being given to his finances, so it was best to cut his losses.

Something similar happened with his stage as an actor, since all this coincided with a moment in Culkin’s professional life in which he was already somewhat burned out and seriously thinking about taking a break. In his visit a few years ago to WTF Podcast with Marc Caron he clarified the following in this regard:

“I had wanted to take a break for a long time and in the end I reacted like “I’m done guys, I hope you all took your money because there won’t be more coming from me.”

In other words, his long absence from the screens – his next film would not arrive until 2003, although in 1998 he participated in a Sonic Youth video clip – and his parents’ divorce was closely linked. In addition, he decided to take it all more calmly in search of a life as similar as possible to a normal one, something that he ended up finding many years later in Paris.

Culkin’s current situation

In addition, he also had to make peace with himself and all the problems he had had during his childhood:

“I had to have that conversation with myself and go, like, Honestly, Mack? It’s not so bad. I want for nothing and need for even less. I’m good, man.”

Let’s not forget either that at last, his great opportunity will come to return to Hollywood through the front door thanks to his participation in the tenth season of ‘American Horror Story’. 

It could have been before, but he finally didn’t get the role of ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ for which he auditioned, the first he did in almost a decade and which he himself described as a disaster …