The captivating charm of Kieran Culkin

For 42-year-old Kieran Culkin, visiting nan building successful Manhattan's Yorkville vicinity wherever he spent nan first 8 years of his life brings backmost different memories. "I retrieve my mom baking a barroom and it would travel retired slanted because nan full flat was connected a slant," he said. "We utilized to put cars connected 1 extremity of nan room and fto spell and spot them roll!

"We lived successful a tight abstraction wherever it was conscionable 7 of america moving around. It was for illustration a benignant of small wolf-pack mentality," he said.

The directory astatine nan erstwhile Culkin family residence connected East 94th Street still hasn't been updated, arsenic Kieran Culkin shows analogous Mo Rocca.  CBS News

His begetter "Kit," himself a erstwhile actor, and mother Patricia, a telephone operator, raised their 7 kids successful a four-room apartment. Kieran came 4th successful nan commencement order. "Whenever nan doorway would unfastened to fto nan kids in, I utilized to guidelines speech and make sure, and I utilized to count to make judge each six of them sewage successful earlier I sewage in," he said. "That's really I retrieve increasing up, too, was I couldn't autumn dormant until they each fell asleep. Like, I only existed because they did astir me."

He sewage into acting because neighbors of theirs ran an off-off-Broadway theatre connected nan Upper East Side: "And they knew that location was this family that had a bunch of kids. And whenever they needed a kid they were like, 'Uhm, you know, we mightiness request a kid for this show.' And my parents were much aliases little like, 'Okay, yeah, what gender? What age? We sewage a full bunch.'"

Soon enough, Macaulay, 2 years older than Kieran, became world celebrated arsenic nan prima of "Home Alone." Kieran besides had a mini domiciled successful that movie, and a twelvemonth later played Steve Martin's boy successful "Father of nan Bride."

Kieran was tiny and charismatic. But making it arsenic a grownup character meant learning really to act. He says erstwhile he was 18 and starring successful nan movie "Igby Goes Down," nan director, Burr Steers, wanted to break him of his "kid acting habits" – to unlearn nan tricks that had served him truthful good arsenic a child.

Actor Kieran Culkin. CBS News

"He really didn't for illustration kid actors, and he was like, 'You still person a fewer bad habits,'" Culkin said. "He was like, 'You're doing thing pinch your eyes.' He would say, 'Soulful eyes.' Or sometimes he would say, you know, 'That was Nickelodeon,' aliases thing for illustration that. 'You're doing kid stuff.'"

And erstwhile that didn't work, "He bought maine a six-pack of brew and he goes, 'I want you to return this brew and do nan segment successful beforehand of nan mirror.' And I was like, 'I don't deliberation I tin do that … I'm gonna beryllium excessively self-conscious.' He goes, 'That's what nan beer's for.'"

Culkin sewage praise for "Igby." But he wasn't judge he wanted to support acting. For 1 thing, he was worried astir becoming famous. "Definitely. I consciousness for illustration immoderate logical personification [who] sewage to acquisition fame second-hand, they would not prosecute it. It's not a bully thing."

His brother, Macauley, has go an world movie prima astatine a young age. "And I saw that and went, 'Oh, I sewage it. That's awful. Let's ne'er do that!'"

Kieran worked connected shape and only sporadically connected movie for years, earlier landing nan portion he's champion known for: Roman Roy, nan filterless, fast-talking mediate kid scheming to inherit a media empire successful "Succession."

Sarah Snook, Arian Moayed, Brian Cox, Jesse Armstrong, Kieran Culkin, J. Smith-Cameron and Alan Ruck be nan Season 3 premiere of HBO's "Succession," astatine nan American Museum of Natural History successful New York, October 12, 2021. Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Even arsenic a personnel of nan fictional Roy family, though, Culkin's existent family played a role. Back successful 2008, his older sister, Dakota Culkin, was struck and killed by an automobile. He said, "After a mates seasons connected 'Succession,' I realized location was immoderate worldly that Roman did that I was like, 'Oh, that's my sister. That was her consciousness of humor.' She could find precisely what nan correct point to make nosy of you was that would get to you, but beryllium really funny and make nan room laugh. That was her."

Sixteen years later, nan nonaccomplishment of his sister is still devastating. "I only knew who I was because of who my siblings are," Kieran said. "So, to suffer 1 was losing a large portion of myself. Losing 1 of my favourite group successful nan world, it doesn't get easier. But you get utilized to it."

Culkin's newest task is besides astir family. In nan movie "A Real Pain," he and Jesse Eisenberg (who wrote and directed) play cousins connected a travel to Poland to spot wherever their precocious beloved grandma was raised – and nan attraction campy she survived.

Culkin's character, Benji, is simply a charming but rudderless man-child … a opposition to Eisenberg's straitlaced family man.

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg successful "A Real Pain."  Courtesy of Sundance Institute

Asked why he connected pinch nan role, Culkin replied, "I don't really cognize what it was pinch me, but I went, I instantly knew who this feline was. I understood nan dynamic, and I really wanted to play."

Describing nan character, Culkin has said, "I'm 1 speedy small misstep distant from being that person."

"That's good! I said that? Good!" he laughed. "I consciousness for illustration I easy could've gone down that path. There was thing successful that that I recognized arsenic myself, but I'm not that feline astatine all. But I deliberation I'm worried that I easy could've go that guy, [had I not] married, kids, aliases figured retired really to, you know, get my s*** together."

Indeed, Culkin is not "that guy." He's been joined to his woman Jazz for 11 years. The mates has 2 children.

Asked what he likes astir being a dad, Culkin said, "Oh, man, everything. Everything isolated from dinnertime. Dinnertime's a terror. I've seen immoderate kids beryllium and eat dinner, it's great. My kids beryllium and eat breakfast, they'll eat lunch, but meal is conscionable throwing things astir nan house, and it's very stressful."

Kieran Culkin whitethorn beryllium astatine nan apical of his game, but he says he's still figuring it out.

"There's different versions of success. I deliberation for galore years success, for me, was, like, moving connected projects I really for illustration [that] cipher really sees. Fly nether nan radar, but support getting to do what I do. And now I'm like, 'Well, now I gotta fig retired really to do nan jobs I want but besides make money.' It's really difficult to find nan measurement to do that!"

One word: Marvel. 

To watch a trailer for "A Real Pain," click connected nan video subordinate below:

For much info:

• "A Real Pain" (Searchlight Pictures) is now playing successful theaters

      
Story produced by Julie Kracov. Editor: Lauren Barnello.

      
See also:

• "Succession" prima Jeremy Strong connected his roadworthy to success ("Sunday Morning")
• "Succession" composer Nicholas Britell: Knowing nan score ("Sunday Morning")
• James Cromwell, ne'er tiring of acting and activism ("Sunday Morning")