Right, so there’s this bloke named Kieran who grew up in the shadow of his famous older brother. Who is Kieran Culkin really, though? He’s 42 now, born September 30th, 1982. And whilst Macaulay was Home Alone and absolutely massive, Kieran was just sort of there, playing Cousin Fuller in the film, the kid who wets the bed. Not exactly glamorous.
Fast forward to March 2025. Kieran just won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The same person. The one nobody really paid much attention to for decades.
Growing Up Culkin
The Culkin family had seven kids crammed into a one-bedroom flat in Yorkville, Manhattan. Proper tiny place. No doors between rooms except the bathroom, which didn’t even lock. His dad, Kit, was a sacristan at the local Catholic church, so Kieran got free schooling there until third grade. That was about the only perk of having that man around, from what Kieran’s said.
His mum, Patricia? Different story entirely. Kieran says she loved him properly, no conditions. His dad, though? Just a constant, unwelcome presence in the house. That’s how Kieran described him. Lovely family dynamic, that.
All the kids did acting because Kit pushed them into it. Macaulay hit it big with Home Alone in 1990. Kieran Culkin brother Rory also acts. Shane’s in the industry too. It was just what the Culkins did. But Kieran was never the golden child. He was the other one. The younger brother.
Early Films Nobody Remembers
So after Home Alone, Kieran got cast in Father of the Bride in 1991. He starred as Matty, Steve Martin’s son. Proper funny in it too. He was only 9 but held his own against Martin, Diane Keaton, and Martin Short. The film was huge; the 1995 sequel also was, but Kieran wasn’t being recognised like his brother.
He did bits here and there in the 90s. The Cider House Rules with Michael Caine in 1999. Music of the Heart, starring Meryl Streep in 1999. He appeared in She’s All That as the little brother. Solid work, nothing spectacular. He wasn’t a star. Just a good actor, keeping his head down.
And then there was Igby Goes Down in 2002, which was one of the best Kieran Culkin movies at that time. Now that the film has changed things. Kieran took on the title role, a privileged teenager who rebels against his rich and really messed-up family. Critics loved it. He was nominated for a Golden Globe. Won a Critics Choice Award. Now suddenly, people were like, Oh, right, this kid can act.
But what did Kieran do after he got his big break? Basically disappeared for six years. The personal stuff, family stuff, and the insanity that goes with having Kit Culkin as your dad. When you read about Kieran Culkin family, it’s not a happy tale.
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The Comeback Nobody Expected
He returned in 2010 with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Played Wallace Wells, Scott’s superchill gay roommate. Stole absolutely every scene he was in. The movie did not work at the box office but became a cult favourite. Everyone remembers Wallace. That’s Kieran.
He did indie films in the 2010s. Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret. Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog. Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move. Good films, smaller audiences. He also did theatre. In 2014, This Is Our Youth ran on Broadway. Kieran’s not one to chase fame. He only does the work he likes.
And then, in 2018, HBO cast him on Succession. As Roman Roy. The youngest son of media tycoon Logan Roy, played by Brian Cox. Roman’s this caustic, immature, deeply damaged bloke who can’t get out of his own way. And Kieran absolutely nailed it.
Roman Roy and Awards Glory
For four seasons, Kieran played Roman. The show became one of the biggest things on telly. Everyone watched it. Everyone talked about it. And everyone agreed Kieran was brilliant.
He was nominated for Emmys three times. Won in 2023 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Received four Golden Globe nominations and won in 2024. Two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Multiple Critics Choice Awards. Kieran Culkin TV shows peaked with Succession, no question.
But here’s what’s mad. And while things went from strength to strength, as he portrayed a billionaire son on the box, Kieran resided in a humble one-bedroom flat with his wife, Jazz Charton, and the pair’s two children. One bedroom. Four people. Kieran’s daughter, Kinsey, occupied the bedroom, while Kieran and Jazz, who was pregnant with their second child, slept on a mattress on the living room floor.
Jazz said to him, You know you’re in a hit TV show? You see how we live? Kieran’s response? Yeah, alright, we’ll move. They did eventually move to a three-bedroom. But for years, he was making £100,000 an episode for Succession’s first two seasons, then £350,000 an episode for the third and fourth seasons, and living like a student. Kieran Culkin net worth is estimated at £5M to £15M, depending on who’s counting, but he’s never been flashy about it.
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A Real Pain and Oscar Gold
Succession ended in 2023. So what did Kieran do next? Appeared in Jesse Eisenberg’s movie A Real Pain. Small budget. Two-hander. Just Kieran and Eisenberg as cousins on a Holocaust memorial tour of Poland.
Kieran portrays Benji, a free-wheeling, unstable nomad who can’t hold on to anyone in his life. No one was important to him except his grandmother, and she’s gone. Now he is attempting to bond with his cousin David (played by Eisenberg), but the two men are in totally different places.
The movie debuted at Sundance in January 2024. Critics went mental for it. Owen Gleiberman from Variety called Kieran Culkin’s performance in the movie A Real Pain sensational. The Washington Post said it was both liberating and touched by deeper sadness. Proper rave reviews.
Kieran almost didn’t do the film. He was scheduled to be in Europe filming for a month, with Jazz and their two kids back home. He said he told the producers that he just couldn’t do it, that he couldn’t leave his family. Emma Stone, the producer, talked him down from leaving. She said, If you don’t do it, the whole movie collapses. But that’s not your problem; you shouldn’t have to bear that weight at all. Brilliant emotional blackmail, that. Worked, though.
The film came out properly in late 2024. Kieran swept the awards season. Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. BAFTA.
Screen Actors Guild Award. Critics’ Choice. Then on March 2nd, 2025, he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at the 97th Academy Awards.
His acceptance speech was proper, Kieran. Thanked Eisenberg, called him a genius, and said he’d never say it to his face again, so soak it up. Praised his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong, who was also nominated for The Apprentice. Then he brought up the running joke with his wife about having more kids.
At the 2023 Emmys, Kieran had stupidly asked Jazz on stage for a third kid. She’d promised him one if he won, thinking he wouldn’t. After the ceremony, they were walking through a car park, and she said, ‘Oh God, I did say that. I guess I owe you a third kid.’ Kieran turned to her and said, ‘Really? ‘I want four.
Jazz replied, I’ll give you four when you win an Oscar. They shook on it.
So at the Oscars, Kieran reminded her of that promise. On stage. In front of millions of people. Said, ‘You remember that, honey? ‘No pressure. I love you. I’m really sorry I did this again. Let’s get cracking on those kids; what do you say?
Absolute legend move.
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The Broadway Return
After winning the Oscar, Kieran went straight into rehearsals for Glengarry Glen Ross on Broadway. He’s playing Richard Roma opposite Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr. The play opened in spring 2025. He’s not taking time off to bask in Oscar glory. He’s just working.
That’s Kieran, though, isn’t it? He’s never been about the noise. He became an actor because his family was one, too. He kept acting because he was good at it. And here he is at the absolute zenith of his profession, with an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA (and now an Oscar), and still just getting on with things.
Is Kieran Culkin in Home Alone? Yes, he’s the little one who drinks too much fizzy drink and wets the bed. That was 35 years ago. Now he’s an Oscar winner. Not bad for the baby brother no one ever noticed.
What’s Actually Next
Kieran landed the role of Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and it’s currently filming for release in 2026. That’s the part played by Stanley Tucci in the original movies. Massive franchise, huge part.
Kieran’s also doing voice work. He’s in Solar Opposites on Hulu as a retinue of characters across multiple seasons. He starred in the animated Animal Farm adaptation that came out in 2025.
But honestly, nobody knows what Kieran will do long-term. He’s never been predictable. He took six years off after Igby Goes Down when he was just starting to get noticed. He lived in a one-bedroom flat whilst starring in one of the biggest TV shows on the planet. He almost quit A Real Pain weeks before filming because he didn’t want to leave his kids.
The man does what he wants. And what he wants seems to be good scripts, interesting characters, time with his family, and no unnecessary fuss about any of it.
He’s married to Jazz Charton. They met in 2012 at a bar in New York. Got married a year later on the side of a road in Iowa during a road trip. Didn’t tell anyone. Just posted a photo of cushions that said Mr. Culkin and Mrs. Culkin. That’s their style.
They’ve got two kids, Kinsey Sioux, who’s five, and Wilder Wolf, who’s three. And if Jazz keeps her promise, they’ll have two more soon enough. Kieran Culkin’s children might become a proper football team at this rate.
Kieran doesn’t do social media. Jazz is on Instagram but barely posts. They keep their private life private, which is refreshing when every other actor overshares everything online.
The Final Word
So yeah, Kieran Culkin movies and TV shows include everything from Home Alone to Father of the Bride to Igby Goes Down to Scott Pilgrim to Succession to A Real Pain. That’s some range. Child actor to indie darling to prestige TV star to Oscar winner. Not many people manage that trajectory.
And he did it without ever seeming like he was trying that hard. Without chasing fame. Without playing the Hollywood game. Just turned up, did brilliant work, and went home to his family.
Rory Culkin movies and TV shows are decent, too, by the way. The youngest brother carved out his own path in films like Lords of Chaos. The Culkin brothers have all done all right for themselves, considering how chaotic their childhood was.
But Kieran’s the one with the Oscar now. At 42. In his prime. With more projects lined up and a wife who’s going to make good on her promise for baby number three and four.
Not bad for the kid who used to sleep on a mattress on his living room floor whilst starring in Succession, is it? Turns out you don’t need to live like Roman Roy to play him brilliantly. You just need to be Kieran Culkin. And that seems to be enough.
