Quick Links
In his early teens, Macaulay Culkin was extremely fatigued and that was evident during one of his final interviews alongside David Letterman. The actor had chances to return for a couple of significant projects which included 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood'. Both projects were not meant to be, but Culkin is doing more than okay these days with his net worth of $18 million.That almost wasn't the case as his father Kit was taking a large part of his earnings. We'll take a look how much Culkin was giving away early on in his career.
Macaulay Culkin Had A Tough Relationship With His Dad
It is common knowledge by now, Culkin did not have a good upbringing alongside his father Kit. The child star admitted in past interviews that the relationship was an abusive and in truth, Kieran was the one that Culkin's dad had big plans for.
"I was an afterthought, it was my older brother who he wanted to be an actor and dancer... and it was kind of like, well just take Mac (Macauley) along, let's see what happens. Next thing you know, I'm booking every gig.
"I was never tight with him (his father) to begin with. My concept of a father is almost one of those things you get from TV shows and movies, rather than having affection for a father."
Until this very day, things haven't gotten better between the two sides. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Kit revealed that he no longer considers Macauley a son.
These days, Kit is living completely off the map in a quiet town over in Oregon, living in a small home. He got a real health scare suffering from a stroke, and it is believed that since this took place, Kit has calmed down when it comes to his feeling towards his kids.
His Mom And Dad Were Taking 15% Of His Earnings
Culkin would reveal that the point of his emancipation was done so that his father specifically would not get to any of his earnings. Culkin's father had quit his job to manage his son's career but Culkin was not pleased with this working relationship.
"We didn’t want to go with my father,’ Macaulay said. ‘It’s always misconstrued, that I “emancipated” myself from my parents. 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****** 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."
So exactly how much was going to KIt and Patricia? While Culkin was making between $7 million to $8 million per film, mom and dad were walking away with 15% of the earnings despite the fact that they really weren't doing much. That's a huge chunk of change, on a film worth $8 million for Culkin, it could've resulted in giving his parents over $1 million.
Macaulay would reveal that he eventually got over it, but it took him some time to realize exactly how much money he had in the bank.
Macaulay Culkin Only Realized His Massive Net Worth At 18
After doing 14 movies in six years, during his early teens Culkin decided to take a much-needed break. The actor would admit that his childhood was never the same given his fame.
It was at the age of 18 that Culkin finally realized how much he had earned thanks to his massive films.
"I didn't see it until I turned 18, I call it the 'Slip of Paper' meeting, where they pretty much put a number on a piece of paper and slide it across the table and then boom, there you go. So I felt like some kid worked really, really hard, and I inherited all of his money pretty much. I had kind of no real sense, but at the same time it allows me to treat everything like a hobby really. I do nothing for my dinner nowadays, so I can do all kinds of projects."
Nowadays, Culkin continues to enjoy his wealth, while taking a step back from the big and small screens.