During a recent appearance on Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett's Smartless podcast, Succession actor Kieran Culkin recalled filming a commercial that had "something to do with learning disabilities" at age 6. The actor mentioned that the director wasn't particularly nice to him and hurled insults at him.
"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 and the kids in the class are supposed to be calling me dummy and stupid and all that."
Kieran Culkin began his career as a child actor, making his film debut in 1990's Home Alone alongside his brother, Macaulay Culkin. He also starred in the Father of the Bride movies.
The actor noted that he has a "distinct memory" of the director calling the action and then insulting him, saying, "Dummy. Idiot. Stupid",
"Even then, I'm thinking like, 'You know, I get it. I'm 6. Like, 'Stand here and look sad.' I'm not f-king method, I'm 6. Like, what's wrong with you?"
The co-hosts of the podcast agreed with him and commented on Culkin's experience, saying it sounded "traumatizing."
Kieran Culkin says he didn't choose an acting career while growing up
Kieran Culkin began his career as a child actor in Home Alone and Father of the Bride movies and eventually played big roles in A Real Pain and Succession. During a conversation with his A Real Pain co-star Jesse Eisenberg at the Tribeca Festival in June earlier this year, the actor recalled that he didn't feel like he chose his acting career growing up.
Culkin recalled a conversation with his manager, Emily Gerson Saines, at 20:
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"Around the age of 20, I had a phone call with Emily, and she said, 'Something, something, something, you career.' I remember having a panic and going, 'I have a f***ing career?' I was just a 6 year old, and I was doing this, and I never once chose to do this for myself. So I had that sort of crisis at like 19, 20, which I think is sort of normal."
Kieran Culkin mentioned that while filming the first season of Succession, he realized he wanted to focus on acting. The actor recalled coming home and having a talk with his wife when he said, "I think I know what I want to do for a living, 'I want to be an actor.'" By the time Kieran became sure of his career choice, he had already been doing it for 31 years.
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