The Prodigy

Cieran may have street cred, while Macaulay has the notoriety – and possibly the sordid tales – of evenings spent with Michael Jackson. At a mere fifteen, however, Rory Culkin has already precociously proven himself to be the clan’s most accomplished thespian.

Though the littlest of the seven Culkin kids began his career playing his most famous brother’s younger self in The Good Son and Richie Rich, recent years have seen Rory step out of Macaulay’s shadow to put together an increasingly impressive acting resumé. He received an Independent Spirit nomination for his remarkably canny turn opposite Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo in You Can Count On Me, held more than his own alongside Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix in Signs, and is currently wowing audiences in the tense teen murder drama Mean Creek.
“We were out on the river a lot during the shoot so we kept seeing dead rats floating by,” explains Rory in his soft, unassuming voice. “But it was a cool movie. I liked the way the kids lived in their own parallel world away from the adults and the dialogue reminded me of my brothers talking.”
Despite the increased risk of encountering deceased rodents, Rory seems more than happy to be working in the independent sector. In addition to Mean Creek, he’s just wrapped two more indie flicks, In Control Of All Things and The Chumscrubber and admits to being far more concerned with acting than with stardom. That seems rather a sensible course in the circumstances; he is, of course, intimately acquainted with the downside of fame.
As older readers may recall, while Rory was still a babe-in-arms, Home Alone brought brother Macaulay indecent levels of celebrity. The Culkin multitude soon found life in the spotlight to be rather intolerable. Negative publicity concerning the scarily domineering Culkin patriarch and a consequential acrimonious parental separation generated a flurry of tabloid headlines, and despite Macaulay’s infamous career exit in 1994, the clan continued to be sport for paparazzi types.
The destruction of the family’s New York home by fire in 1998, half-sister Jennifer’s fatal overdose in 2000, and speculation regarding the Culkin boys’ relationship with Michael Jackson have all been reported widely and lasciviously.
Rory, however, is philosophical about such things.
“Maybe I’m used to it. I grew up sitting on my mom’s lap behind monitors. So I’ve always been around movies and fame. But things haven’t been really bad for me either. I’d hate to go through what Macaulay had to go through.”
Happily, Rory appears unscathed by it all. He seems the very opposite of bratty; pleasingly serious though quick to laugh and absolutely normal as fifteen year olds go. He talks about playing the drums and listening to Jimi Hendrix. He loves Peter Jackson and Quentin Tarantino. Oh, and his favourite movie from last year was Old Boy. Smart kid.
In fact, Rory’s only got one problem to speak of.
“I don’t know what I want to do. I love acting and all of my ambitions concern film - you know, writing or directing - but I’m really confused about what to study at college.” Bless.

Mean Creek is released on April 29th.