Macaulay Culkin's complicated childhood gave him some important lessons for when he became a parent himself.
Though the Home Alone actor experienced glitz and glamor at an early age thanks to his child stardom, he also had a notoriously difficult relationship with his father, Christopher "Kit" Culkin.
And though the two remain estranged to this day, the former stage actor still was a source of parenting inspiration for his son — though not in the way you would think.
© GettyMacaulay, speaking on Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson's podcast Sibling Revelry, confessed: "One of my earliest memories of him was [thinking], 'When I grew up, this is how I'm not gonna be with my kids.'"
The former child star started quietly dating Brenda Song in 2017, and they were confirmed to be engaged in early 2022. The couple welcomed their first child, son Dakota, in April of 2021, followed by another son, Carson, born in 2022.
Macaulay further shared that his strained relationship with his father was at the top of his mind when he himself became a father.
© Getty Images"Now that I have kids of my own, it's like, you know, it kicks up some dust,” he said, adding: "I kinda go, you know, like, I can't believe he was like that. He had all these lovely kids. It's crazy."
In addition to Macaulay, Kit, 80, also shared Shane, Dakota, who passed away in 2008, Kieran, Quinn, Christian, and Rory with Macaulay's mother Patricia Brentrup, whom he was with from 1974 to 1995. He was also a dad to the late Jennifer Adamson, who passed away in 2000, with Adeena VanWagoner.
© Getty ImagesBack in 2018, speaking on Marc Maron's podcast WTF, Macaulay described his father as "mentally and physically" abusive and "jealous" of him, and claimed he made threats such as: "Do good or I'll hit you."
© News UK Ltd/Shutterstock"Everything he tried to do in life, I excelled at before I was ten-years-old," he added at the time. In 1994, Macaulay sued both of his parents to remove them as his legal guardians, and block them from controlling his trust fund, which at the time was reportedly worth between $15 and $20 million.
Macaulay, 44, further revealed on Sibling Revelry that he hasn't talked to his father in about three decades, and maintained: "Oh, he deserves it too. Yeah. He's a man who, he had seven kids, and now he has four grandkids. Yeah. And, none of them want anything to do with him."
© Amy Sussman, GettyReiterating his previous claims that his father was both "abusive" and "narcissistic," he noted: "I have more than an inkling that he does not feel that way," as far as having done anything wrong.
And though Kit has largely retreated from the spotlight, in 2018, he did give a rare statement to the Daily Mail, maintaining: "I don't consider [Macaulay] a son anymore."
