“Succession” star Kieran Culkin may be having a buzzy year for his role in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” but his career didn’t start at the top.
The former child actor recalled on the “Smartless” podcast how his first acting job turned into a disaster. The now 42-year-old actor told Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett that the “first professional experience I had was a commercial when I was 6.” He didn’t quite remember what it was for but it had “something to do with learning disabilities.”
“The concept was I’m standing in front of a chalkboard with chalk in my hand, and I don’t know how to solve the easy thing in front of me,” he recalled. “And the kids in the class are supposed to be calling me a dummy and stupid, all that.”
Culkin continued, “I have a distinct memory of being there and the director going, ‘OK, action.’ And he starts going, ‘Dummy. Idiot. Stupid.’”
“I’m thinking like, ‘I get it. I’m 6. Stand here and look sad. I’m not f**king Method. I’m 6. What’s wrong with you?’” the actor explained.
Since that bizarre experience, Culkin went on to star in several other movies as a child. His 36-year career spans movies like “Home Alone” and its sequel “Home Alone 2” both starring his older brother Macaulay Culkin. The actor was also in “Igby Goes Down” and “Father of the Bride” series with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton. He’s most recently known for starring as one of the Roy siblings on HBO’s now-concluded drama “Succession,” for which he won an Emmy.
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