Few people can lay claim to being a meme before the term reached widespread usage. After all, what did a meme in 1990 even look like?
The answer is Macaulay Culkin.
As a nine-year-old boy, he effectively conquered the world when the unusual yet heartwarming holiday film “Home Alone” reached major global commercial success. There he was: a blond boy with his hands on his cheeks, frozen in a scream. He was without his family, and villains were closing in.
Yet as Culkin told CITY in a recent phone interview, the film remains a favorite 35 years later because of its universal themes.
“It’s about a kid, and people — kids especially — love kids with gumption and bravery,” Culkin said. “I think that’s one of the things that my kids and just kids in general, back then and even now, respond to: the kid is getting one up on the bad guys.”
Culkin’s career since has been full of surprising, interesting turns. He played a socialite murderer in 2003’s “Party Monster” and an estranged son on the HBO series “The Righteous Gemstones,” not to mention his tenure in the experimental band The Pizza Underground.
Despite that résumé, “Home Alone” remains Culkin’s brightest light. He’s cool with that legacy. He’s even celebrating it.
Culkin will be at West Herr Auditorium Theatre on December 6 for a screening of the film, followed by a moderated interview where he’ll share behind-the-scenes stories. To prep, CITY asked Culkin important questions about pizza, parenthood and punching Walton Goggins in the face.
CITY: We’re talking about 35 years since the film “Home Alone” came out. How has your relationship with the film changed in that time?
Macaulay Culkin: It’s evolved in a bunch of different ways. Up front, it was like, oh, cool. It’s this big, amazing thing. It really took off in a way that I don’t think anyone expected, and that was really neat. I was pretty bright-eyed back then. I didn’t know any better than to think this is the way it’s supposed to be. And then I think I spent some time — I wouldn’t say running away from it, but it was kind of a curse and a blessing for a while there. When you’re kind of younger, it’s just, “Gosh, would you stop bringing up that silly ‘Home Alone’ thing?”
But now that I’m older, and now that I’ve got kids of my own, and I show my kids the movie, it’s a completely different animal. I stand by it with a lot of pride. I love how my kids love it, and they have no idea it’s me in it. I go, “You like that Kevin kid? You think he’s handsome? Good. You kids have good taste.” So it’s become a different kind of thing, and now I’m seeing it through a different kind of lens.
It made me very receptive to doing something like this [tour], where I’m sharing with the world. And I know I’m not the only one who showed it to my kids. It’s nice to share that kind of perspective.
CITY: My brother told me he showed it to his daughters not that long ago, but they said that the film had “too many boo-boos.” I was wondering if your kids had a similar view.
Culkin: No, no. They think it’s hilarious. They love slapstick. Actually, I do slapstick at home. They actually set traps for me. Now the roles are reversed. Being in my mid 40s, I can’t do pratfalls like I used to. My sciatica is killing me as we speak.
But they absolutely love it. They think Kevin is the smartest, coolest kid — and again, they have no idea it’s me. I can pat myself on the shoulder a little bit because it took me a long time to feel that way about this role that I did, this film that I did. It really affirms [that]. I get to watch it through their lens, and it’s really amazing.
CITY: A lot of holiday films are very beloved, but I don’t know that a lot of them have the staying power that “Home Alone” has had. Why do you think it endures as a holiday favorite?
Culkin: It’s pretty timeless in regards to that it’s about family. It’s about a kid, and people — kids especially — love kids with gumption and bravery. I think that’s one of the things that my kids and just kids in general, back then and even now, respond to: the kid is getting one up on the bad guys. I think that makes it this universal kind of thing. You couldn’t make this movie today, simply because everyone has a cell phone. But it’s this universal thing where kids respond to it, and we live through our kids. At the same time, there’s all kinds of gags as an adult that I didn’t get when I was a kid. It’s still funny.
CITY: One of the things that I loved recently is seeing you pop up on “The Righteous Gemstones” on HBO. I love how, in that scene with Walton Goggins, you’re effectively the straight man, until you’re not, and then you get to punch him in the face. What is it about a new role now that draws you to it?
Culkin: I look to the weird, different, interesting kinds of things. I always say I’m in a constant state of retirement. I’m retired right now, and then I get something that looks interesting, and then I unretire, and I do it, and then I re-retire again. Off-center roles really appeal to me, and I love [series creator Danny] McBride and what they’re doing over there. I get to work with Walton again on this season of “Fallout” right now. Our first day on set together, I’m like, “Hey, what’s up, Baby Billy?” I call him Papa Billy. I go, “Hey, Papa Billy!”
He’s always been super warm to me. But at the same time, once he gets into character, once he’s in that Baby Billy makeup, he’s Baby Billy. He’s not Walton anymore. Same thing when he’s The Ghoul, man. One time, I walked by him. He just growled. And I was just like, hey, I didn’t even do anything!
I just like interesting stuff that appeals to my sensibility. I wish there was a silver bullet where I can say I want this or I want that. But I just like things that appeal to my left-of-center sensibility.
CITY: I imagine that extends to when you were in a Father John Misty music video where you were essentially recreating the Passion of Christ as Kurt Cobain.
Culkin: We shot that in my living room! I can’t believe you pulled that. That’s such a deep pull. That was literally done in my living room. Gee wiz, that’s quite the pull right there.
CITY: You shot that in your living room? That’s next level commitment.
Culkin: It was just a bunch of us just goofing around. I think I have a directing credit, technically, too. So there you go. I directed that, and it’s in my living room. It was a big old goof. I just love doing weird, interesting things with weird, interesting people. Honestly, until you said that, I absolutely forgot I even did that.
CITY: You’ll be in Rochester soon for this screening and talk. Chicago has deep dish pizza. Buffalo has buffalo wings. Do you happen to know what Rochester’s famous food is? It’s not that famous, by the way.
Culkin: Not really, no, I do not. Is it something to do with french fries?
CITY: Well, kind of. It’s this thing called a Garbage Plate. When I say that to you, what are you picturing?
Culkin: It sounds like everything but the kitchen sink. You throw in the french fries. You throw in whatever. We got chili. We got beans. Oh, relish? That sounds great. Here’s some hot dogs, too, while you’re at it.
CITY: You are almost 100% spot on. Shout out Macaulay Culkin for knowing the Garbage Plate lore, even without actually knowing it. It’s just basically two hot dogs, potatoes and macaroni salad, and you can put beans on it, if you want.
Culkin: I’m from Manhattan, so I don’t always know what you guys are doing up north there.
CITY: To be fair, I don’t know if we do either. Here’s a “Home Alone”/Pizza Underground crossover question. We know what Kevin McCallister’s pizza order is. But what is your go-to pizza order?
Culkin: It depends on the place, because I’m a New Yorker, so I am a pizza snob. Joe’s Pizza, it’s all about the sauce. Prince Street [Pizza], it’s all about the cheese. Things like that. It kind of depends. But honestly, as long as I’ve taken my ulcer medication, just give me the mushroom, pepperoni, sausage combo. That’s the holy trinity for me.
CITY: Speaking of pizza, is there ever any chance of a Pizza Underground reunion or one-off show?
Culkin: We’ve been talking about it. We’ve been skirting around the idea. We just got a [message] from Bandcamp celebrating our 12-year anniversary. Long story short, hipsters are old now, I think, officially. We kind of came at the death throes of hipsterism. But we keep on teasing it. It’s funny because between us, we’ve had a couple of marriages. I think we’re a couple of kids in since the last time we actually got together.
I keep on threatening — we did record an album. We just haven’t done anything with it yet. I want to come out with something like the 13-and-a-half-year anniversary edition, you know what I mean? Don’t wait 15 years. Don’t wait 20. Just pick a random [milestone] and go, “Here it is.” We do have some unreleased tracks.
You’ll notice we started hitting the ceiling on that gig. It was one of those deals where we played Seattle for, like, the fifth time. I say, “How many people here saw our last show?” And 90% of the audience goes, “Woo!” And I go, “Okay, get ready for the exact same thing!” We were just doing the same thing over and over again. But at the same time, it honestly was a fun run.
CITY: We have a local artist here named Dellarious. He does these Andy Warhol-style prints on traffic-light control boxes that you see at intersections. He’ll do pop art of famous faces, and one of the ones he did was your face from the “Home Alone” poster. Hearing that, does that still feel unique or memorable given the many, many other places that your face has been all over the world?
Culkin: Honestly, I’d much rather be on the poles in Rochester. I like that. I dig the pop art vibe. That definitely speaks to my sensibilities. I’m kind of embracing all of it. There was a guy who, in New York, used to do my face on street signs — this was, gosh, maybe almost 20 years ago — and it kept on saying, “Find me.” Just my face, and it just said, “Find me.” I was like, oh cool, I’m that guy! I’m a meme before the word meme came out! I like it when you turn things on its head, so yeah, that appeals to me.
Macaulay Culkin will be in Rochester on December 6 for a “Home Alone” screening and post-film talkback at West Herr Auditorium Theatre. The open-captioned movie begins at 7 p.m., with ASL interpretation for the discussion. Ticket information and more details available here.
