Macaulay Culkin auditioned for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and it was a “disaster.” Culkin doesn’t do a whole lot of acting these days. The Home Alone star worked a lot when he was a child actor, which isn’t exactly what he always wanted to do. His father pushed him into roles when he wanted to go back to school and live somewhat of a normal life. However, Culkin does want to continue acting these days, but just on his own terms.
In a new lengthy interview, Macaulay Culkin touches on a number of different subjects. One of those subjects was a chance at auditioning for Quentin Tarantino on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The movie is critically acclaimed and earned several Academy Award nominations. It would have been a great place to see Culkin, but it was not to be. He explains.
“It was a disaster. I wouldn’t have hired me. I’m terrible at auditioning anyway, and this was my first audition in like eight years.”
Macaulay Culkin does not go into details as to why he was not given the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood role. Calling the audition a “disaster” seems to sum it up pretty well though. The actor hasn’t done a ton of work over the last 20 years. He has slowly started to appear in more movies and TV shows over the last few years. He appeared in an episode of Hulu’s Dollface series opposite his girlfriend Brenda Song last year. He also starred in Changeland, which was made by his buddy Seth Green. He enjoyed not having to go out and promote either project.
Macaulay Culkin even got back into his Home Alone days with an ad for Google Assistant. For Culkin, not doing things in the public eye started to get dark. People automatically assumed the worst about him, just judging by his appearance or a weird joke that he would tell a reporter on the street. Culkin was well aware of this. He had this to say.
“People assume that I’m crazy, or a kook, or damaged. Weird. Cracked. And up until the last year or two, I haven’t really put myself out there at all. So I can understand that. It’s also like, ‘Okay, everybody, stop acting so freaking shocked that I’m relatively well-adjusted.'”
As for doing interviews and a little bit more acting work now, Macaulay Culkin says, “No matter how much I act like a curmudgeonly old man, it’s still fun to get back in the saddle once in a while and play around.” While it’s fun to get back in the saddle, that also means he has to talk about his father and Michael Jackson. In the same interview, Culkin talks about an awkward conversation he had with actor James Franco about Michael Jackson being a predator. While some of his life has been pretty dark, Culkin is able to see some light in it all. You can read the rest of the interview with Macaulay Culkin over at Esquire.