This Hollywood child star with Rs 157 crore net worth became a millionaire at 11, quit acting at 14; still makes millions for his hits 33 years later

He became a millionaire when he was just 11 and cracked deals that pay him in millions even 33 years later.

New Delhi | Updated: August 9, 2025 17:41 IST

Macaulay Culkin as Kevin in Home Alone.

The holidays and movies often go hand in hand, and with the kids all home, parents tend to lean towards proper, feel-good family entertainers. When talking about Hollywood, the Home Alone franchise is probably the best example of this, even though the films and their popularity shrank during the later iterations. The first two movies featuring child star Macaulay Culkin were humongous hits at the box office, and everyone had quite a payday, including the 11-year-old Culkin.

In a recent episode of Hot Ones with Sean Evans, Culkin gave some hints about his financial condition and how the first two films of the franchise gave him quite a comfortable foundation to build his life upon. The first Home Alone film released in 1990, and the second one released in 1992. When asked which one of the two films was better, Culkin said, “Well, the second one is better because I got paid more. I got 5 percent of the net collection, and I even get 15 percent of the merchandising. So if anyone wants to buy a Talkboy, I get something from it.” Culkin was paid $100k (Rs 87 lakh) for the first film, but due to the film’s success, Culkin soon got promoted to the upper echelons of Hollywood earners.

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According to Celebrity Net Worth, his net worth stands at $18 million (Rs 157 crore). After the first Home Alone film, he made $1 million (Rs 8.75 cr) for his next film, My Girl, and then earned a whopping amount of $4.5 million (Rs 39 cr) to reprise his role as Kevin in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York. The film made close to $359 million (3140 cr) worldwide, and Culkin had negotiated 5 percent of the entire sum, which comes around to $5 million (Rs 43 cr). From there, Culkin would make $8 million (Rs 70 cr) each for the movies Getting Even With Dad and Richie Rich. After a few more roles, the actor took a long break from Hollywood to focus on his personal life.

While on the show, Culkin confirmed some other rumours and stories from the sets of Home Alone. He confirmed that his stunt double for the first film was in fact a very short 30-year-old man named Larry. He said, “He even asked me once, ‘How old do I think he is?’ Even as a kid, I knew it was a loaded question, so I said 13. He laughed and shrugged it off. He also talked about how the actor Joe Pesci was mean to him in real life so that he would be actually scared of him. “I think that was the case, and I get why he wanted to scare me. I remember one day he asked me, ‘Hey, how are you doing, kid?’ and I just said, ‘You know what, I am actually tired; I haven’t been home in 4-5 months.’ He just looked at me and went, ‘I haven’t been home in 3 years.'”

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