Kieran Culkin: an interesting family background + much lauded performances = the next big thing

In the 1990s, while his older brother, Macaulay, was becoming the most famous child actor since Shirley Temple and his father was being besmirched in the tabloids, Kieran Culkin quietly built a resume and a craft. Now 20, the star of the cult hit The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys and this month's delightful Igby Goes Down has left the kiddie roles (and "younger-brother-of" stigma) behind, and with his mischievous eyes and coolly frenetic delivery, has become Hollywood's of-the-moment face of teen angst--and one of its most exciting young talents.

SCOTT LYLE COHEN: At what age did you first start acting?

KIERAN CULKIN: I was two. I was in some production at the Symphony Space theater [on Manhattan's Upper West Side]. So, technically, I've been doing this for 17 years.

SLC: How did you start out professionally?

KC: Mac[aulay] did Rocket Gibraltar [1988], and it was the first movie set we were on.

SLC: Who's we?

KC: The whole family. That's how it started: We all went together. And Mac kept on doing movies: Uncle Buck [1989], Jacob's Ladder [1990]--

SLC: --And then Home Alone [1990], where you broke in with your first movie role. I'm sure it wasn't on that set, because you were only eight, but do you remember the moment when you realized you loved acting and wanted to keep doing it?

KC: It was years later, when I was 14 and did The Mighty [1998]. Peter Chelsom was the first director to take me seriously. Before that it was like, "OK! We need some kids! Hey, parents: Tell them what to do." Peter was the first person to actually work directly with me.

SLC: And at that time you were also going to school in New York.

KC: Yeah, the Professional Children's School. It's for professional kids, so if you wanted to ditch, you could just write "Audition" on a note and leave. I didn't really like school all that much.

SLC: You probably did--and do--the bulk of your learning on set.

KC: Yeah. Igby was a really good opportunity for me to grow up. [Director] Burr Steers wrote a great story, and the cast was great. Burr would say how lucky I was to have a cast like that: good enough to not have to think about what I was doing, to just react. Watching a good actor is the best way to learn.

SLC: You're not one to go in and question, talk process with your co-stars?

KC: No, no. I just watch. I shut up and keep my ears and eyes open.

SLC: There seem to be a number of parallels between you and your Igby character. Like him, you grew up in Manhattan. You're from a well-off family. We just learned that you ditched school. You have a successful older brother...

KC: I think that's why Burr gave me the job.

SLC: Igby's relationship with his family is complex, to say the least. How do you get on with your family?

KC: The whole family is tight. We all really love each other. But I remember when my mom finished reading the script she said she loved it, and then, "Why is it that whenever they want somebody with a dysfunctional family, they always go to you?" [both laugh]

SLC: What are you working on now?

KC: I'm working on watching some movies. I've been watching a lot of Jack Nicholson's stuff because I realized the only things I'd seen him in were Batman [1989] and Mars Attacks [1996].

SLC: Jesus. I feel old.

KC: [laughs] I've watched Five Easy Pieces [1970] and The Shining [1980], and I'm about to watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [1975]. I only saw it a month ago, but a new favorite movie of mine is Wonder Boys [2000]. Tobey Maguire's becoming my favorite actor. I'd love to work with him again, because I feel different than I did three years ago when we worked together [in The Cider House Rules].

SLC: How so?

KC: Altar Boys and Igby were really good experiences, especially Igby. Burr was always telling me, "This is your chance to really grow up as an actor," so I told him to put me through hell.

SLC: Did he?

KC: Thankfully, he did. Right after I got the part, Burr was like, "I saw clippings of Altar Boys. You were good." And I was like, "Thank you." He went, "Eat it up, because that's the last compliment you're getting from me." Then I was like, "Good. I want you to be a harsh critic." He said, "Trust me, I will be." He was brutally honest and he had a funny way of putting things, too. It wasn't like, "That was crap!" He'd say. "OK, that was your Nickelodeon take. Now do it for real!" It felt like we were doing something great every day.

Scott Lyle Cohen is Interview's Senior Editor.

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