Thursday, July 23, 2009

Missing Stars: Macaulay Culkin


Macaulay Culkin was one of the biggest child stars of all time. He was best known for his work in Home Alone 1 & 2 playing lead character Kevin McCallister and at the height of his fame was regarded as the most successful child actor since Shirley Temple. But where has this former child superstar ended up? The Extra Source’s Missing Stars has tracked him down.

Mac as he was known starred in some of the biggest family movies of the late 80s and early 90s. Hits like Uncle Buck, My Girl, Richie Rich, the Home Alone series and even made an appearance in his good mate Michael Jackson’s film clip for 'Black or White' and now is the godfather to all of Jackson’s three kids.

Towards the mid to late 90s Mac quit acting, divorced his parents and got married at just 17 years of age and then divorced shortly after. In 2004 Mac spent some time in jail for drug possession.

So apart from all the craziness in recent times, Mac has actually starred in a few light roles. What I do know about him is that these days he likes to choose his roles more carefully. Since 2003 he has appeared in a few movies called Party Monster, Sex and Breakfast and Saved! He has also done a bit of voiceover work in an animated comedy called Robot Chicken. In 2009 Mac joined the cast of Kings, a US drama series based on the Biblical story of King David. However, it only lasted one season and has since been axed.

I was a major fan of Mac’s work when I was growing up having owned all his movies and absolutely idolised him. But if you think about it child actors very rarely grow up and continue to be successful stars especially when you’ve had the up bringing that Mac had. They all seem to end up in rehab or prison from time to time in their life. It’s a shame they turn out like this, but no one will ever really know how to deal with the price of fame at that early age. Let’s hope we do see Macaulay Culkin in some major roles in the near future, heck maybe even in another Home Alone perhaps leaving his kids at home!