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Credit: Photos via Waner Bros. & Featureflash Photo Agency\/Shutterstock. Illustration by David Loyola<\/p>\nCredit: Photos via Waner Bros. & Featureflash Photo Agency\/Shutterstock. Illustration by David Loyola<\/p>\n
Ten-year-old Macaulay Culkin\u2019s post-aftershave scream is one of the most iconic moments in American cinema. Thirty-five years after \u201cHome Alone,\u201d he rocks a closely cropped beard with some gray in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Audiences can see both versions of him when \u201cA Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin\u201d stops in Tampa next Thursday. Before embarking on the cross-country tour, Culkin\u2014legally, Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin<\/a>\u2014spoke with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay over the phone about what the film means to him as a star and a dad to toddlers Dakota and Carson.<\/p>\n What do you have going on today? Tell me about the show. You started it last year, if I\u2019m correct, for the 35th anniversary?<\/p>\n This year is the 35th anniversary. Last year was just trying it on for size. And yeah, it was fun hitting the road and sharing the movie with people. It\u2019s one thing to watch it in a living room. It\u2019s another thing to watch it with like-minded people. People laugh harder when there\u2019s other people laughing, and people enjoy it. So it\u2019s really cool to kind of go out there and share it in a way that I hadn\u2019t since, Gosh, 1990 really.<\/p>\n The show itself is a ton of fun. I have a really great time. It\u2019s part Q&A, part fireside chat, a little standup. There\u2019s some audience participation. I pull the kids on stage and ask them trivia questions and give away prizes. I try to give people their money\u2019s worth. I\u2019m old-fashioned that way. You show up when advertised and you give people their money\u2019s worth. And so it is a full experience. I have such a blast doing it. So, yeah, it\u2019ll be fun. I\u2019m looking forward to getting it back on its feet again after getting a year off.<\/p>\n So, are you watching it every time?<\/p>\n I don\u2019t watch it every time. There\u2019s only so many times I can watch it. I get a big eyeful at home, because my boys like watching the movie.<\/p>\n Do you watch it every year with them?<\/p>\n Oh, yes, yes, of course, yeah. I don\u2019t hide it from them, but they also have no idea that I\u2019m the kid in the movie. They\u2019re still of that age, so they don\u2019t recognize me yet. I\u2019m waiting. In the future, at some point, one of them\u2019s gonna sideeye me and go, \u201cHey, wait a second.\u201d Like, yeah, that was your papa.<\/p>\n Oh wow, so you still haven\u2019t told them?<\/p>\n No, no. There\u2019s no reason to. It\u2019s almost like believing in Santa Claus or something like that. I want to keep that magic up for as long as possible. I\u2019m sure some kids at recess are going to spoil the surprise at some point.\u00a0<\/p>\n Especially my oldest [4-year-old Dakota], he thinks he\u2019s the kid from the movie. He thinks that he\u2019s Kevin. I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, you remember that?\u201d and he\u2019s like, \u201cSure do!\u201d You liar, that was me! That\u2019s the thing, is that it\u2019s taken on a brand new meaning now that I\u2019m a father, I get to show it to my kids and all that. It\u2019s a different experience altogether.<\/p>\n I know that watching a movie you made as a kid is one thing. But to watch it every year, like as a Christmas movie, that must be really surreal.<\/p>\n You know, it\u2019s one of those things where my opinion of it falls with time. Before it was just kind of a phenomenon \u2026 how I made my name and all that. I wouldn\u2019t call it a curse, per se, but it was definitely a curse and a blessing. It could have been burdensome, but then it kind of evolved into something else. That\u2019s something that I\u2019ve kind of really, really embraced. It\u2019s definitely something that was a big, important part of my life. Now that I\u2019m a father, it\u2019s different, and now I appreciate it on that level, not just for myself, but other parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n A lot of these people, they\u2019re my age, they have kids too, and they show it to their kids. It\u2019s become kind of a generational thing. I think that\u2019s really neat. It\u2019s a fun thing, while I\u2019m out there doing this tour and all that stuff, to see that in people, again, sharing this with their kids.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026it\u2019s a power fantasy. This kid is getting one over on adults.\u201d<\/p>\n When you were growing up, did you have a movie that you guys would watch every year that became what this movie acts as for other people?<\/p>\n \u201cChristmas Story\u201d was a big one in my family. That was always on. We watched \u201cScrooged,\u201d that Bill Murray one. People forget about that one and it\u2019s actually a wonderful Christmas movie. That one kind of slips through the cracks of all these lists. I revisit that. I own the soundtrack on vinyl, in fact.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t watch \u201cHome Alone\u201d growing up as a kid. Actually, to admit, I watched it for the first time very recently. And I felt the loneliness of this kid, Kevin. All those scenes where he\u2019s doing the aftershave, and all those things that were funny and great, I feel like in your memories as a kid, they sort of overpower the sad parts. I watch \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d every year. And my girlfriend is like, \u201cThat is a movie about a guy who tries to kill himself.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cYeah, yeah. But it\u2019s happy!\u201d On a subconscious level, do you feel like that sadness is a part of this phenomenon? Do you feel like people do connect with that sadness?<\/p>\n Maybe\u2026But there\u2019s a little bit of a \u201ccareful what you wish for\u201d kind of quality to the story arc. I think that\u2019s a big part of it, if we\u2019re gonna try to find some boiled-down essence to it. But also, it\u2019s a fantasy kind of tale. That\u2019s why kids especially really relate to it, it\u2019s a power fantasy. This kid is getting one over on adults. He\u2019s left to his own devices. I think that\u2019s a big part of the appeal. That\u2019s a lot of the way that I\u2019ve interpreted it, and I know that\u2019s how my kids live. I can\u2019t tell you how many times people have said, \u201cI made the mistake of showing my kid that movie. They\u2019re setting up traps. They\u2019re locking me out\u2026\u201d Things like that.<\/p>\n They\u2019re questioning whether their toothbrush is ADA certified.<\/p>\n Yes, exactly, they are approved by the American Dental Association.<\/p>\n I wanted to ask you if your satire news site Bunny Ears<\/a> might make a comeback, or if that\u2019s something that you\u2019ve considered doing more with recently.<\/p>\n Not really. One of the reasons why it went by the wayside was\u2026 well, one, it was COVID. And then, two, even though we worked remotely, I was starting to have kids and stuff, and they do take the majority of my time. It\u2019s the most important thing that I\u2019ve ever done in my life, and I\u2019m dedicating a lot of my time to that.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was a really fun project. I knew that it had a shelf life to it, but at the same time, it was a lot of fun. I\u2019m still friends with a lot of the people that contributed to it. I still have memories of sitting around writing Oscar jokes, live-tweeting the Oscars, things like that. It was fun having a crew of funny people actively being funny, you know, with a certain amount of one-upmanship.<\/p>\n That makes a lot of sense. Well, if you ever want to start another media project, and you feel like maybe investing in a newspaper, maybe one that\u2019s based, like in Tampa, and it\u2019s like, pretty small\u2026<\/p>\n Alright, well, I know where to call!<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a rainy day over here in Southern California, and yes, the boys, my sons, they just got back from school, so it takes a second to find a quiet spot in the house, but that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been doing.<\/p>\n