A child star since his debut alongside brother Macaulay in "Home Alone", 21-year-old Kieran Culkin has starred in films like "Father of the Bride", "The Cider House Rules", and "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys". His latest role sees him playing against type as amoral rich kid Jason 'Igby' Slocumb Jr in "Igby Goes Down".
How many people thought "Igby Goes Down" was a porn movie?
Everyone, because that's what I told them! It's a tough title because every time I say it to someone, no one can ever repeat it back to me. I'll say "Igby Goes Down" and they're like "Er, somebody Goes Down?" My brother Chris could never get it right, so up to this day he still calls it "Rugbert Goes Down". He was always like "Rigby, Digby..." He could never get it, so he finally just called it "Rugbert". He's not a little kid, he's 16. He's just slow and a bit stubborn!
What grabbed you about the screenplay?
SPOILER: Right off the bat it caught me. Right at the beginning when they kill their mom. I remember I had to read back and check that they really just did that. I was like, "Am I playing a total asshole in this movie? What's going on?"
Was it nerve-wracking working with actors like Susan Sarandon and Jeff Goldblum?
On the second day I was working with Susan Sarandon, and I was having a particularly tough time for some reason with this one scene. Burr Steers [the director] wasn't liking it, it just wasn't working, So Burr took me aside and said, "Look, that's Susan Sarandon and she's really good. So just listen to her and you'll figure it out." And it was true, it worked!
Who else did you enjoy working with?
I liked a lot of the scenes I did with Ryan Phillippe. That scene at the end was my favourite. He made me feel a little nervous right before it. We were sitting there preparing for it and he leaned over and said: "This is my favourite scene in the movie... so don't **** it up!" He must have seen the look of terror on my face because he immediately went "No, no, I'm only kidding. Relax, relax!" Some people you shouldn't say that kind of thing too!
Is this the film that's going to take you from being a child star to an adult star and out of the shadow of your brother Macaulay?
I see it as my first movie as an adult, and it's a big deal for me because I really, really like the film. But I think people are going to keep asking me about Macaulay. Some things change and some things don't.
