Kieran Culkin Says Director Tried to Get Him to Method Act During First Acting Job By Calling Him ‘Stupid’

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As a gamer with a soft spot for Hollywood trivia, I find Kieran Culkin‘s journey through the world of acting fascinating. The way he recounts his first professional gig, which sounds more like a battlefield than a film set, is both intriguing and concerning. It’s one thing to ask an actor to delve deep into their character, but pelting them with insults at six years old? That’s not just method acting; it’s child abuse disguised as art!

During his initial acting role, Kieran Culkin remembers a director resorting to extraordinary methods to encourage him towards method acting, by throwing verbal abuse at him instead.

During an episode of “Smartless,” hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett on Dec. 23, Culkin was asked by Arnett about his initial professional acting experience. Culkin revealed that at the age of six, he was cast in a commercial, but it wasn’t a positive encounter. The former star of “Succession” elaborated that although he couldn’t specifically remember what product the advertisement promoted, it dealt with “matters related to learning disabilities.

I found myself perplexed, facing a whiteboard adorned with equations, unsure of the solution to an apparently simple problem. In my mind’s eye, I could almost hear the whispers of ‘dummy’ and ‘stupid’ from the students, as if they were there in the room with me.

Culkin shared that he vividly recalls the director shouting “Action,” followed by him being berated with words like, “Fool. Imbecile. Foolish.

“Even at six years old, I was thinking, ‘I understand, but stand here and look sad? I’m not an acting method; I’m just six. Why are you asking this of me?’ said the Emmy-winning actor.

Bateman gasped in astonishment,” said he, “while Arnett echoed his amazement, uttering, ‘Good heavens, good heavens!’

In an interaction with his fellow actor Jesse Eisenberg during the Tribeca Festival in June, Culkin confessed that as a child, he didn’t feel like he actively chose his acting profession.

He mentioned a conversation with his manager Emily Gerson Saines that led to his epiphany. “When I was around 20 years old,” said Culkin, “Emily and I spoke on the phone, and she hinted at my career. My response was something like, ‘I have a career?’ It struck me as odd because at six years old, I had already embarked on this path without any conscious decision to do so. This realization sparked a kind of crisis in me at around 19 or 20, which I believe is quite common.

It wasn’t until filming the initial season of Succession that Culkin discovered his desire to concentrate on acting. “I returned home, and I had a conversation with my wife,” he shared. “I said, ‘I think I know what I want to do for a living. I want to be an actor.’ At that point, I had been doing it for approximately 31 years. I spent around two decades attempting to find other pursuits before eventually returning to the one I was already engaged in.

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2024-12-23 23:25