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Child star Kieran Culkin has revealed he was called an ‘idiot’ at the age of six by the director of his first acting gig.
The 42-year-old actor – who is the younger brother of Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin – was shooting a commercial and can still remember the moment all these years later.
Kieran revealed he was in a commercial for ‘something to do with learning disabilities’ when the director started hurling insults at him along with the other kids acting.
Talking on the Smartless podcast, he explained: ‘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.”‘
Kieran explained that while the concept of the commercial was for him to be insulted, he thought it was a harsh treatment for such a young actor.
He shared: “I’m thinking like, ‘I get it. I’m six. Stand here and look sad. I’m not f****** method. I’m six. What’s wrong with you?’”
This comes after Kieran recently revealed that he loved filming Succession scenes with Sarah Snook.
The actor played Roman Roy in the HBO TV series, and Kieran relished the experience of filming with Sarah, who played Shiv Roy on the hit show.
Asked to name his favourite screen partner, Kieran told Variety: “Sarah Snook. You’re not supposed to have favourites; I have a favourite.
‘There would be times, just for fun, I would take her line, and then give her a little side-eye. And then the scene would go on, and when it was my line, she would take mine and go, “Got you, b****”.
‘Right before we were about to finish shooting, she goes, “Are you ready to cry? No one’s ever going to cast the two of us in anything. We’re never going to work together again.” I just bawled.
‘When you’re on a show like that, and we play brother-sister, people will always make that comparison. So she’s probably right.’
Kieran – who plays Roman Roy in the media drama – almost got a different role in the HBO hit.
Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Kieran previously revealed: ‘They wanted me to read for cousin Greg, which I just didn’t feel right for.
‘They asked me to read for Greg and I knew I was wrong, and normally in any other script, I would be like, “OK, I’m not right for the part. I’m going to close it, I’m not going to continue reading on.”
‘But I just kind of liked the script, so I read on and I was like, “Oh, there’s this guy, whose first line is something I can’t say on your show.”’
He continued: ‘And I thought, “Well I kind of like this guy. I like the way he talks. I can do that.”’
Kieran starred in Home Alone in 1990 alongside his brother as Fuller McCallister, and went on to appear in a string of successful films including Father of the Bride and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
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