Kieran Culkin recalled the uncomfortable way a director treated him during his first acting gig.
During a new episode of the “Smartless” podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, Arnett asked Culkin, 42, to discuss what his first acting experience was like — and his answer left the podcast hosts nearly speechless.
Culkin shared that he had his first acting experience when he was 6 years old for a commercial he couldn’t recall but noted it had “something to do with learning disabilities.”
“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 dummy and stupid and all that,” he said of the ad during the “Smartless” episode, released on Dec. 23.
The “Succession” star told the hosts that he had “a distinct memory” of the director yelling “action” before he unexpectedly catapulted insults at the young actor, calling him “dummy,” “idiot” and “stupid.”
Culkin said that, despite his young age, he knew the director had gone too far.
“Even then, I’m thinking like, ‘You know, I get it. I’m 6.’ Like, ‘Stand here and look sad.’ I’m not fucking method [acting], I’m 6. What’s wrong with you?” he added.
“Wow!” Bateman replied, while Arnett added, “Oh my God, oh my God.”
Back in December 2021, Culkin got candid about witnessing the challenges his older brother, Macaulay Culkin, faced due to his child stardom following his massive success in 1990’s “Home Alone.”
“It was pretty nuts. And I think what people sometimes fail to remember too, is that he was a kid. He didn’t really choose that. It’s something that happened to him,” the “Father of the Bride” star told NPR’s Teri Gross on “Fresh Air.”
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He added, “And I think when you’re a kid, you obviously don’t have the tools to handle something like that. So I think it might have been pretty tough.”
Listen to Kieran Culkin’s interview on the “Smartless” podcast below.