The star of “Home Alone” is not just an addict and failure as people often say.

He was standing and taking off his pants, trying to keep himself from falling. One heel rested on the other knee, he struggled and staggered. Sometimes, it seemed like he was about to fall over, just like how my friend and I tried to take off our pants while standing. He had no choice but to hop on, let out a small cry and then stood there.

Macaulay Culkin.

He calls himself Mack. “Hello, I’m Mack.”, even though he said that 4 minutes ago. Before he stood in front of me wearing only his underwear.

I’m not sure if I should look away, I probably should. But it was a photo shoot, and he didn’t seem to care that six strangers were watching. He whispered some trivial things to the stylist.

He quickly put on another pair of pants, put on a T-shirt on his smooth and slim body, and wore sunglasses with large rims the color of ripe peaches.

“Need some fresh air,” Mack smiled mischievously. The smirk is Macaulay Culkin’s specialty, it makes people feel like he knows something they don’t.

Mack’s publicist, the woman who has been doing this since he was 10, reached over and handed him a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Mack’s fingers were painted red, and the paint was peeling off a lot.

The spokesperson showed almost no emotion, or she chose to hide her anxiety as she put cigarettes into her “customers'” lungs every day.

The old photo shooting location was originally an industrial park. During his cigarette break, Mack pulled out his phone to check his messages.

His younger brother Kieran was nominated for a Golden Globe, so Mack texted him to congratulate him. A truck driver passed by and asked for a cigarette, but Mack balled up the pack, indicating that it was empty. Then he called his favorite restaurant and told them he’d be there tomorrow night.

What a valuable smoking break.

Returning to the photo shoot, he quickly changed into another outfit. The photographer and stylist dressed him in a red shirt, black vest and cream-colored shoes. Her blonde hair is combed high and neat, revealing ears that you will never forget.

“Really, this is much better than wearing pajamas at home,” Mack said while buttoning his shirt, smirking at the spokesperson. “Why do I have to stay at home with my cat and boyfriend right now? That would be so boring.”

The truth is he hasn’t done a photo shoot like this in 25 years. That doesn’t mean he’s not a celeb now. Macaulay Culkin has been so famous for so many years that it’s pretty much the only life he knows or remembers about.

But he also disappeared from the limelight for many years, or so it seemed. Stories about drugs – the reason for Mack’s skinny photos, and why he doesn’t act anymore.

Is he weird? Is that right?

Before the photo shoot, when there was no one around, Mack turned to whisper to me: “This is not an easy thing for me. These people are nice, but the teasing is annoying, that’s it.” is part of the reason I don’t do this anymore.”

And then he stood there in the middle of the photo shoot. The charisma is impeccable. The stylist and photographer gave him instructions and he followed them, with very little movement or unnecessary speech. He turned around, moved his body and just asked: “Is this okay?”, “OK?”, “Okay”.

He is working.

My eyelids are still as heavy as when I was a child. When he raised his eyebrows, his eyes opened wide and looked very soulful. When he’s half-asleep, it’s hard to tell he’s sleepy or focused – one of the things that made Mack so interesting on screen in the movies he starred in before the age of 14. Especially in Home Alone – the movie that making him “alone” with the rest of the world.

The photographer asked him to lean on the wooden wall and he did. When he rested his head it looked like he was contemplating, but in reality he was just posing for a photo. Posing, hairspray, trendy outfits, thoughtful looks into the camera, all are what celebs prepare for a new movie, an upcoming new song, a comeback.

“Look, I am a peerless person.”

Macaulay Culkin was not prepared for what just happened. He would even rather stay at home with the cat.

So what is he doing here?

“Maaaaack!”

Carlitos Gardel – owner of an Argentinian restaurant in Los Angeles welcomed Mack enthusiastically. This is the place where he has eaten several times a month, for 15 years, every time he has the opportunity to visit LA. The owner welcomed Mack the way parents and grandparents welcome their children to visit every weekend. His wife – the owner of delicious desserts – came and hugged and kissed him.

Mack ordered a bottle of red wine. A basket of warm bread appeared on the table. The guy quickly dipped a large piece into the coriander sauce and took a sip of wine. With Mack – this is truly comfortable and cozy, from the people to the food. The enveloping feeling of familiarity.

Still with food in his mouth, Mack talked loudly about how he planned to change his middle name. There’s this website he runs, called BunnyEars.com, where people can vote for their favorite middle names. There are several options as follows:

Macaulay Culkin (if so, his name would be Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin); Kieran (inspired by his younger brother Kieran’s name); TheMcRibReturn; Publicity Stunt (Stunt); and Shark Week (a movie Mack has never seen).

The winner with nearly 61 thousand votes is Macaulay Culkin. The guy smiled sarcastically, saying he was moving forward to do that.

I asked Mack if Kieran had texted back yet, congratulating him on his Golden Globe nomination. They live not too far apart, last year Mack flew to New York to visit his newborn grandchild.

What he doesn’t do now is acting. At least not as much acting as before. He admitted that he hates red carpet events for movie premieres. “They drive me crazy.”

Last year, he played a drunk train driver in Thailand in a movie called Changeland. Mack did not have to attend a single event press conference.

He received much praise and encouragement from the public for his role. Changeland, it turns out, is the fourth film in 20 years that Mack has participated in.

“People think I’m crazy or crazy. Weird. Promiscuous. And until last year, I still couldn’t get rid of those vices. So I understand.

It’s like telling everyone, hey Hey, don’t panic when you see me straightening myself out like that. Look, I’m a unique guy. If I were an accountant, if I turned right or left I’d see accountants like me.

Story This isn’t like that. This is like, you might deny it, but aren’t we all too confident about our own uniqueness? Aren’t we the only ones?

Well, you know what?” Mack leaned in very close, lowered his voice, stared at me and smiled a smile I hadn’t seen since Home Alone: ​​”I’m really a narcissist.”

Stories about Macaulay Culkin often begin with the image of a bad father. A failed and brutal actor tries to force his child into the film industry with threats and insults.

The couple and seven children crammed into a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. The father enrolled Mack in ballet classes and forced him to act in plays.

With Mack, the father thought he had won big. At the age of 8, Mack was chosen to act in the movie Rocket Gibraltar with Burt Lancaster and many big names in New York. A year later, Mack joined Uncle Buck. Since then, Mack has become one of the hardest working names on screen.

It was fun at first, he said. “Back then I craved attention. Look at me, I’m a child star! I knew I was good at acting. At least I had the wisdom to know what decent attention was.”

Culkin did not foresee the huge popularity he would bring after Home Alone. His youngest brother, Rory Culkin, was born a year after the film. Everyone then asked Mack about the child, as if he were everyone’s little brother.

The father then quickly “upgraded” his son, turning him into a money-making machine. My Girl, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, The Good Son are good titles. But the rest is really bland, most of the time the camera is focused on Mack’s lifeless face. The boy doesn’t want to act anymore.

“I started talking and people didn’t care. I said I wanted to go to school, I hadn’t been to a proper school since first grade.”

The truth is that everyone knows Macaulay Culkin, but Macaulay Culkin seems to know no one.

Mack’s parents were never legally married, so when Mack was in his mid-teens, their separation was not a divorce. A tireless battle for custody lasted up to 2 years. Everyone knows that the main reason lies in Mack’s assets – about 15 – 20 million USD at that time.

“We didn’t want to go live with our dad. It was always a matter of trust, that people believed I had “emancipated” myself from my parents. I removed my parents’ names from my trust, hired a The intermediary looked after the finances in case someone wanted to steal it. But the next thing, you know, the story was that I separated myself from my parents.

I thought I did it in an honest way. , leave out the father’s name, leave out the mother’s name, which means my opinion will be fair. When I do that, it seems like everything is ending faster.”

“Look, I mean, it’s really broken. But things could be worse, you know. I didn’t work in the mines, I wasn’t a kid forced to hold a gun. My dad wasn’t sexually abusive.” Sure, bad things happen, but kids everywhere encounter bad things all the time. I have money, fame, a beautiful girlfriend, a nice house, pets. I don’t want anything else. I’m fine, sir.”

Culkin and his girlfriend Brenda Song are currently living very happily. They are trying to have a child together.

He put out his cigarette and smiled: “But he (Mack’s father) is still a bad guy, don’t get me wrong.”

Outside of filming, hanging out with his girlfriend (Brenda Song), recording podcasts, Mack waters the plants, takes care of his dog and cat, draws and writes.

Home is where Mack chooses to be his “base”. “That’s right, I’m the type that likes to stay at home.” That’s where two actors who were once child stars lived together. One is still working hard, the other isn’t sure but he wants to work just as hard. Brenda always had respectful and sweet words for Mack.

She knows, he always tries to be himself. The jubilant days of touring, drinking and doing drugs at night ended when Mack chose to stop with Brenda.

Mack chooses enough fame to be able to live comfortably. You can occasionally act in movies if you want, and if you like, you can go into the studio and do some podcasts. One of his friends shared: “It’s good to see Mack out there working without being caught by the paparazzi getting drunk like before.”

We all have difficult times, but he was scrutinized by the whole world. People love to see a child star go out of business. But now people know that he still lives a good life, is kind and does not create karma, and has his own opinion, not like the shabby portrait that people want to create.”

Brenda looks forward to seeing Mack return to a professional acting career. “I really believe that he is a genuine actor and can completely handle good roles because of everything he has been through.

He has had to witness a lot of tragedies, ups and downs.” dog, he’s seen the dark side and the ups and downs of this industry. So he can say exactly what he doesn’t want and what he doesn’t like about it. But yeah, let’s hope first Satisfied.”

The finale of Changeland features Mack’s character participating in a boxing match. He said almost nothing but it was enough to make the audience cringe.

An American guy got lost in Thailand and lost face-to-face in a set bet. The director, who is also Mack’s close friend, said he practiced a lot for this scene. Punching people, being punched back, Mack took it all. He does not accept stunts.

Mack auditioned for Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino’s hit movie last year. The audition did not go as well as expected. In fact, it “was a disaster. If I were to be on the jury, I wouldn’t even hire me. I’m really bad at auditioning, and this was my first audition in about 8 years.”

At the age of 25, Mack published a book explaining in detail why he pursued acting since childhood. The first chapter tells about a monkey in a circus, alluding to Mack’s time as a child star.

I asked him about a passage in the book that points out the difference between “pleasure” and “happiness.”

“Believe me, I know. I’ve been happy a lot but not happy. I’ve also been happy but not necessarily happy. But we can have both. Don’t confuse the two. because it’s easy to confuse the two. For example, you might be happy when you’re high, but that doesn’t mean you’re happy. I’ve been accused of drug-related problems, but drugs was the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Mack shared that he had been addicted countless times to stimulants but had never had to go to rehab. He knows his stop. He still drinks, but has given up drugs. “I like them a lot. They’re like old friends. But sometimes you have to be more mature than your friends.”

He stopped. That’s all I want to say about stimulants. His thoughts brought him back to the house – filled with things he had never had enough of in his life. Cat. Space. A yard. Food in the refrigerator. Habit. Warmth.

“You know what I’ll do after this? I’ll take care of my old back. I’ll take a hot bath. Watch the video. It’s 50 minutes long – perfect for relaxing in the bath. I’ll Kissing kings, sleeping with my beauties. I’m a man with simple pleasures.”

He climbed onto the roof to take the final series of photos. Although he doesn’t like taking photos, Mack thinks this is an opportunity for him to have fun and have a little adventure. No, I’m not trying to advertise anything. That night, he returned to show Brenda some pictures he took. She likes them very much.