Kieran Culkin reveals mom’s sadness over family’s success in Hollywood
Actor Kieran Culkin has revealed his mom's bittersweet reaction to her family's Hollywood success.
Los Angeles: Wildfire breaks out close to Hollywood sign
Actor Kieran Culkin has revealed his mom Patricia Brentrup's bittersweet reaction to her family's Hollywood success.
The recent Screen Actors Guild Awards winner, his older brother Macaulay Culkin, and their younger sibling Rory Culkin entered showbiz as child stars, appearing in some of the biggest films of the 1990s.
Still, despite her childrens' success, Brentrup was sad, according to Kieran.
- How Jane Fonda became most hated actress in America as she's honored at SAGs
- Netflix star Karla Sofia Gascon will not attend SAG Awards after racism scandal
“My mom used to say when I was a kid, ‘How come whenever there’s a script about a dysfunctional family they always come to us?’” Kieran told Entertainment Weekly while walking the Screen Actors Guild Awards red carpet on Sunday, February 23.
Culkin's father, Kit Culkin, 80, personally manages all three of his son's careers. Kit and Patricia had seven children in total but were never legally married.
Follow Daily Express US
Get all the latest news, entertainment, sport and lifestyle updates from our dedicated American team.
Sign up for our newsletters HERE.
Further reflecting on his childhood on the SAG Awards red carpet, Culkin said his depiction of family dysfunction in awards season contender A Real Pain reminded him of his own complicated family dynamic.
“What’s a functional family?” he joked. “Aren’t they all [dysfunctional]?”
Culkin's older brother Macaulay notably broke away from his father Kit’s management after his parents split during his teenage years.
A nasty custody battle ensued and Macaulay sought to block both parents from controlling his trust fund.
“It’s always misconstrued, that I ‘emancipated’ myself from my parents,” he told Esquire in 2020, “I legally took my parents’ names off of my trust fund and found an executor, someone who would look over my finances, just in case anyone wanted to stick their f—king pinkie in the pie.
"But the next thing you know, the story was that I divorced my parents. I just thought I was doing it cleanly – taking my father’s name off, taking my mom’s name off, so my opinion is unbiased. And when I did that, the whole thing kinda ended a lot faster."
DON'T MISS...
Ariana Grande's Oscar dreams in jeopardy as surprising star pulls ahead [LATEST]
Angelina Jolie is 'heartbroken' after 'doomed frm the start' Maria gets Oscars snub [INSIGHT]
Jessica Chastain labeled 'embarrassing' and 'tone deaf' after rant against Jet Blue [UPDATE]
The Home Alone actor suggested in 2020 that, despite working as a child star and enduring his parents’ messy split, his childhood “coulda been worse.”
“I wasn’t working in a coal mine. I wasn’t a child soldier,” he joked, “My father was not sexually abusing me. Certain f—ed-up things happened, but f—ed-up things happen to kids all the time and they don’t come out the other end.
"I’ve got something to show for it, man. I mean, look at me: I got money, I got fame, I got a beautiful girlfriend and a beautiful house and beautiful animals. It took me a long time to get to that place, and 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.”
In December 2024, Kieran laughed off the suggestion of getting family therapy, telling The Guardian: “Us siblings, we’re already cooked, we’re baked.
"My godfather has this thing, he goes: ‘I will fully indulge anybody that wants to complain about their upbringing and childhood. I want to hear everything about that. And you can completely blame your parents for everything until you’re 30, and then figure s— out.’ He’s oversimplifying it, but I like that.”
While the Culkin boys’ relationship with their father continues to be strained into adulthood, Kieran said last December that he has immense respect for his mother’s sacrifices.
“If I wanted chocolate milk light, but my brother wanted more chocolate, and my sister wanted hardly any, she would make it those different ways. I love that s—,” he said at the time.
“How did my mom do it? Yeah. And I have no idea … So, [she dealt with] 15 to 20 kids in the house [when friends were over]. I can’t believe I’m back at the grocery store sometimes three times a day.
"My mom had to do it on coupons. She would get cheap liver at Key Food, two giant gallons of milk, all that. For me, getting them to sleep is enough.”
All five of the Culkin brothers teamed up to voice various characters in The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy last year.
