Kieran Culkin

Kieran Culkin
Culkin in 2024
Born	Kieran Kyle Culkin (1982-09-30) September 30, 1982 (age 42) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1988–present
Spouse	Jazz Charton ​ (m. 2013)​
Children	2
Father	Kit Culkin
Relatives	Macaulay Culkin (brother) Rory Culkin (brother) Bonnie Bedelia (aunt)
Awards	Full list

Kieran Kyle Culkin (born September 30, 1982) is an American actor. He garnered mainstream recognition for his portrayal of Roman Roy in the HBO drama series Succession (2018–2023), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Culkin began his career as a child actor and made his feature film debut alongside his older brother, Macaulay Culkin, in Home Alone (1990). He had small roles in Father of the Bride (1991) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), followed by his first leading role in The Mighty (1998). After appearing in She's All That (1999) and The Cider House Rules (1999), Culkin had his breakout role as a sardonic teenager in the independent film Igby Goes Down (2002), which earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

He took a break from the screen due to personal conflicts, acting primarily on stage. Culkin made his West End debut as a replacement in the 2002 revival of Kenneth Lonergan's play This Is Our Youth. He also won an Obie Award for Gina Gionfriddo's play After Ashley (2005). He worked intermittently in film, playing Wallace Wells in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and a supporting role in Margaret (2011). Following Succession, Culkin starred as a free-spirited drifter in Jesse Eisenberg's comedy-drama film A Real Pain (2024), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Kieran Kyle Culkin was born on September 30, 1982, in New York City. He was the fourth of seven children born to Christopher "Kit" Culkin, a former stage actor, and Patricia Brentrup, a native of North Dakota.^[1] His parents met in 1974 while Brentrup was working as a road traffic controller in Sundance, Wyoming.^[2] Culkin was raised Irish Catholic with his six siblings:^[3] Shane (b. 1976), Dakota (1978–2008),^[4] Macaulay (b. 1980), Quinn (b. 1984), Christian (b. 1987), and Rory (b. 1989).^[1] His paternal half-sister, Jennifer Adamson (1970–2000),^[5] was a supervisor at a group home for adults with disabilities.^[6] Actress Bonnie Bedelia is his paternal aunt.^[7]

For the first nine years of his life, Culkin and his siblings lived in a railroad apartment in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan.^[1][8] The tenemant was "barely suitable for a couple," Culkin explained to Vanity Fair. "It was just a hallway, and there were no separating doors, except for the bathroom, which didn't have a lock. [His parents] raised seven kids in that apartment—for years! They just kept bringing babies home to this little space."^[9] As the family struggled financially,^[1] Kit served as a sacristan at the St. Joseph's Church of Yorkville for the free Catholic school education it afforded the children.^[2] Culkin then studied theater, film and television at the Professional Children's School, but dropped out.^[10][11]

Culkin was "loved unconditionally" by his mother,^[2] and considers her to be his only parent.^[12][13] Brentrup handled all of the children's necessities while balancing night shifts as a telephone operator for a theatrical casting agency.^[2] According to the family's longtime talent manager, Emily Gerson Saines, Brentrup maintained "strong family values, like the family having a meal together, the Christmas tree, Thanksgiving. These are all important things to [Brentrup], and she instilled that in her kids."^[9] Culkin was neglected by his father throughout his childhood and only remembers him as being a "constant, unwelcome presence" in the household.^[2] His parents separated in September 1995, and he has been estranged from his father since.^[9]

Culkin began acting at a young age when a neighbor who worked for the off-Broadway repertory theatre Light Opera of Manhattan told his parents they needed some children to perform in their stage productions.^[9] His first professional acting gig was through a television commercial based on learning disabilities.^[14] He was six years old at the time, and was repeatedly berated by the unnamed director in a failed attempt to make him method act.^[15]

At age seven, Culkin made his feature film debut as Fuller McCallister in Chris Columbus's comedy Home Alone (1990).^[16] He had "no idea" what the film was about when he attended its premiere,^[17] nor did he know that his brother Macaulay starred as his older cousin, Kevin.^[18] The second highest-grossing Christmas film of all time,^[19] Home Alone was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."^[20]

Culkin worked with Columbus again on the romantic comedy-drama Only the Lonely and starred as Matthew "Matty" Banks" in Father of the Bride (both 1991).^[21][22] For his performance in the latter film, he earned a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Young Actor Co-Starring in a Motion Picture at the 14th Youth in Film Awards.^[23] Culkin reprised his role as McCallister in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992),^[24] starred in the action film Nowhere to Run (1993),^[25] appeared in the comedy My Summer Story (1994),^[26] reprised his role as Banks in Father of the Bride Part II (1995),^[27] and starred as a farm boy who overcomes his fear of animals in Amanda (1996).^[28]

As he entered adolescence, Culkin alternated between lead roles in independent films and small parts in mainstream films. He earned a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film for his performance in the coming-of-age drama The Mighty (1998).^[29][30] The following year, Culkin appeared in Music of the Heart, a biographical film about violinist Roberta Guaspari,^[31] the teen comedy She's All That, which grossed over $100 million worldwide against a production budget of $7–10 million,^[32] and Lasse Hallström's The Cider House Rules, which grossed over $88 million worldwide.^[33] He then appeared in James Lapine's play The Moment When in 2000,^[34] and starred in his first regular role in a television series with the short-lived NBC sitcom Go Fish (2001).^[35]

Culkin achieved a career breakthrough for playing the rebellious and sardonic teenager Jason "Igby" Slocumb Jr. in the comedy-drama Igby Goes Down (2002).^[36] Film critic Stephen Holden for The New York Times praised his performance, writing that the role was "even richer" than the Catholic schoolboy he portrayed earlier in the year in Peter Care's The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys.^[36] For his work in the former, Culkin won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Actor/Actress and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.^[37][38]

Igby Goes Down was the first gig that profoundly impacted Culkin's personal life.^[39] He realized in the midst of the film's success that acting had become his career, which was "terrifying" because he was never granted the decision to pursue it.^[40] As he needed time to figure out whether he genuinely wanted to be an actor or not, he took a break from the film and television industries and only focused on the acting jobs that interested him the most.^[40]

Culkin mostly gravitated towards theatre during his hiatus, starting with replacement work in Kenneth Lonergan's West End production of This Is Our Youth (2002–2003) at the Garrick Theatre.^[41] The "dream play" was the second gig that deeply affected Culkin, as he spent eight years convincing Lonergan to let him play the co-lead role of Warren Straub.^[39] He then starred as Justin Hammond in Gina Gionfriddo's After Ashley (2005) at the Vineyard Theatre,^[42] which won him an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance.^[43] In 2006, Culkin starred in Eric Bogosian's off-Broadway revival of SubUrbia,^[44] and made his on-Broadway debut by appearing in Julia Cho's one-act play First Tree in Antarctica.^[45][46] He reunited with Lonergan for The Starry Messenger (2009) at the Acorn Theatre.^[47] Culkin then headlined multiple revival runs of This Is Our Youth as Dennis Ziegler for the Sydney Opera House,^[48] the Steppenwolf Theatre Company,^[49] and the Cort Theatre.^[50]

Among Culkin's sporadic film roles were Christopher in the comedy-drama Paper Man (2009),^[51] Wallace Wells in the romantic action-comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010),^[52] and Paul Hirsch in the psychological drama Margaret (2011).^[53] During production of the science fiction comedy Infinity Baby (2017), he recalled feeling comfortable with acting and began settling into his career within the medium.^[54]

From 2018 to 2023, Culkin received renewed recognition from mainstream audiences for his lead role as Roman Roy, the immature and irresponsible media executive, in the HBO satirical black comedy-drama series Succession.^[55] He credits the series for solidifying his desire to be an actor.^[54] Culkin's performance, especially in the final season, earned critical acclaim and numerous accolades,^[56] including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series,^[57] the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama,^[58] two Critics' Choice Television Awards,^[59] and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.^[60]

Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, Culkin reprised his role as Matty Banks for a second time in the screenlife short film Father of the Bride Part 3(ish) (2020).^[61] He played a supporting role in Steven Soderbergh's crime thriller film No Sudden Move (2021),^[62] and hosted the November 6, 2021 episode of the variety series Saturday Night Live; marking thirty years since his brother Macaulay anchored.^[63] In 2022, Culkin narrated the documentary miniseries Gaming Wall Street and joined the adult animated sitcom Solar Opposites as a main character.^[64][65] He returned to his role as Wallace Wells for the anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023).^[66]

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival marked the release of Culkin's first major project post-Succession — Jesse Eisenberg's buddy comedy-drama film A Real Pain.^[67] He played Benji Kaplan, a free-spirited and eccentric drifter who travels to Poland with his cousin David (played by Eisenberg) to honor their late grandmother and connect with their Polish-Jewish heritage.^[68] Culkin's performance was highly praised by critics. Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it a "sensational piece of acting,"^[69] while The Washington Post's Ty Burr found it "both liberating and touched by a deeper, more inarticulate sadness."^[70] Culkin earned several accolades for his work, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.^[71]

Culkin will next return to the stage as Richard Roma in Patrick Marber's Broadway revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, opposite Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr.^[72]

Culkin briefly dated his After Ashley co-star Anna Paquin in 2005.^[73] He then entered a two-year relationship with his Paper Man co-star Emma Stone.^[74] They remained good friends following their split; Culkin dislikes even referring to Stone as an ex-girlfriend.^[75]

Culkin met Jazz Charton at a New York bar in 2012.^[76] A native of Shepherd's Bush, West London,^[11] Charton was working in the music department of an advertising agency at the time.^[2] They began dating shortly after, and eloped on June 22, 2013, in Iowa during a cross-country road trip.^[77][78] They have two children together: a daughter born in September 2019,^[79] and a son born in August 2021.^[80] Culkin developed a close friendship with his Succession co-star Sarah Snook, who is the godmother of their son.^[81]

Culkin won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama for his role in Succession.^[57][91] His performance in A Real Pain earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor,^[91] and made him the third actor in history after Jack Nicholson and Willem Dafoe to receive the Best Supporting Performance honors from the four most prestigious American film critics associations: the Los Angeles Film Critics Association,^[92] the National Board of Review,^[93] the National Society of Film Critics,^[94] and the New York Film Critics Circle.^[95]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kieran Culkin.

• Kieran Culkin at IMDb 
• Kieran Culkin at the Internet Broadway Database
• Kieran Culkin at the Internet Off-Broadway Database