Kieran Culkin Says Director Called Him “Dummy. Idiot. Stupid” During First Job

Hollywood is a curious place—just ask Kieran Culkin. The actor—who has been acting since he was a wee child—recently recounted a story about his first professional acting job, and it does not paint the director in the best light. Unless you think teasing and bullying a kid on set is a totally fine and chill thing to do.

While speaking with the men of the SmartLess podcast (via Variety)—hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett—Culkin was asked about, and then told, the story of his first acting job. The Succession and A Real Pain star recalled filming a commercial that had “something to do with learning disabilities,” which made the director feel the need to hurl insults at the young child to get him into character, leaving the hosts of the podcast nearly speechless in the process.

Kieran Culkin Knows A Thing or Two About Being a Child Actor

Asked by Arnett about his first experience acting, the actor had this to say:

“[The] first professional experience I had was a commercial when I was six. 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 a dummy and stupid, all that. I have a distinct memory of being there and the director going, ‘Okay, action.’ And he starts going, ‘Dummy. Idiot. Stupid,'” Culkin recalled. “And I’m thinking like, ‘I get it. I’m six. Stand here and look sad. I’m not f*cking Method. I’m six. What’s wrong with you?'”

Thankfully, the show’s hosts were all just as horrified as the rest of us, with Bateman exclaiming “Wow!” before Arnett added a wholly appropriate “Oh my God, oh my God.” You can listen to the moment below, which starts at the 24:55-minute mark:

Culkin is no stranger to child acting, having appeared in over 43 projects over the course of his career, with 15 of those taking place or filming before he was even eighteen years old. As a child, he appeared in such films as Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride Part II, She’s All That, and Home Alone and its subsequent sequel—which also featured his brother, Macaulay Culkin, who was himself a child actor at the time.

Back in 2021 while on NPR’s Fresh Air, Culkin recounted to host Terry Gross what it was like to witness his older brother Macauley deal with stardom at a young age, saying that, “It was pretty nuts. And I think what people sometimes fail to remember too, is that he was a kid. He didn’t really choose that. It’s something that happened to him.”

“And I think when you’re a kid,” he added, “you obviously don’t have the tools to handle something like that. So I think it might have been pretty tough.”

Thankfully, the experience did not keep the younger Culkin from acting, who went on to appear in such beloved films as The Cider House Rules, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Igby Goes Down, and the television show Succession. His work on the beloved HBO series nabbed him his first Emmy Award in 2023 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He can currently be seen in Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, a role for which the actor is amassing a ton of Awards Season attention.

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Mismatched cousins David and Benji tour Poland to honor their grandmother. Their adventure becomes complicated as old tensions resurface while exploring their family history.

Release Date

January 20, 2024

Runtime

90 Minutes

Cast

Jesse Eisenberg
, Kieran Culkin
, Will Sharpe
, Jennifer Grey
, Kurt Egyiawan
, Liza Sadovy
, Daniel Oreskes
, Ellora Torchia
, Jakub Gąsowski
, Krzysztof Jaszczak
, Piotr Czarniecki
, Marek Kasprzyk