Succession star Kieran Culkin has opened up about the overwhelming grief he still feels over the death of his sister – 13 years after she was killed in a car crash in LA.
Kieran, 39, will return to screens in his scene-stealing role of Roman Roy in HBO’s mega-hit Succession later this month, confessed that he still ‘weeps about’ his sister Dakota’s passing, while voicing his devastation at knowing she will never have the chance to meet his two children.
In a rare interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the very private actor, who is the younger brother of former child star Macaulay Culkin, described his sister’s death as ‘the worst thing that’s ever happened’, recalling how her passing left all of the Culkin siblings ‘torn up inside’.
‘That’s the worst thing that’s ever happened, and there’s no sugar coating that one,’ Kieran said when asked about the death of 29-year-old Dakota, who was struck by a car when she stepped off the curb outside of a bar and in front of a moving vehicle.
‘Each one of us handled it very differently,’ the father-of-two – who has another sister, Quinn, and four brothers, Macaulay, Rory, Quinn, and Shane – added of his siblings’ reactions to Dakota’s death. ‘I think everyone was just torn up inside.’
Candid: Succession star Kieran Culkin has opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about his ongoing grief over the death of sister Dakota, who was killed after being hit by a car in 2008
Emotional: The 39-year-old actor admitted that he ‘still weeps about’ the loss of his sibling, who was just 29 years old when she died
Kieran, who is pictured center with Dakota (far right), their parents Pat and Kit, and siblings Macaulay, Christian, Shane, and Quinn, said his family was ‘torn up’ by his sister’s death
In the 13 years that have passed since his sister’s passing, Kieran admitted that he has never truly been able to come to terms with the loss, confessing that he doesn’t think ‘it’s ever going to be fine’.
Kieran’s sister Dakota was killed at the age of 29 when she stepped in front of a moving vehicle in 2008
‘What has it been, 13 years now? Holy s**t. That’s crazy. Jesus f***ing Christ,’ he said. ‘I accepted at the time that this is going to be forever and it’s never going to be fine.’
The actor, who welcomed a son, his second child with wife Jazz Charton, in August, said he still breaks down in tears when he thinks about his sister, particularly when he recalls a tender moment that they shared and realizes that his own kids will never get the chance to know their aunt.
‘It’s always going to be devastating,’ Kieran continued.
‘I still weep about it out of nowhere. Something funny she did will pop in the head and make me laugh and then I’m weeping.
‘Sometimes it’s knowing that she’s not going to meet my kids and they don’t get to have her and it’s hard to describe what she was like.’
Kieran has rarely opened up about his private life, and he has refrained from going into detail about the impact of his sister’s loss in the past – save for a Vanity Fair interview in 2018, when it was revealed that he had initially given up his supporting role in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World when he received the news about Dakota’s death.
Child stars: Kieran spent years living in the shadow of his mega-famous older brother Macaulay but is now one of the the breakout stars of Succession
Although the actor ended up taking the part, he recalled telling director Edgar Wright that he had ‘dyed his hair green and put on quite a lot of weight ’cause he’d been drinking a lot’ in the wake of Dakota’s passing.
At the time of Dakota’s death, Macaulay’s then-spokesperson called her passing ‘a terrible accident’, adding that the family did not wish to make any other comment.
The accident came just eight years after the Culkins’ half-sister Jennifer Adamson died from a drug overdose.
In his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kieran also opened up about his childhood – and what it was like growing up in a family of child actors, all of whom were overshadowed by the sensational success of Macaulay, who became a global superstar following his starring role in Home Alone.
The profile notes how the reluctant actor has always ‘played tag’ with Hollywood over the years, running away from success, particularly when he quit the business in 2002 after his Golden Globe-nominated turn in Igby Goes Down.
‘I was definitely not ready. I would not have been able to handle it, and I think I knew that,’ he explained about his decision at the time.
Breakout: The actor is hitting is stride as the scene-stealing Roman Roy in HBO’s huge hit Succession
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Hollywood child star: The actor has spent much of his life in front of the camera
‘I would not have been able to handle whatever kind of success or attention came from that. So I quite literally ran away from it.’
However, it was after working on the first season of Succession – which has received unanimous praise for its quality writing – that made Kieran feel ready to commit again.
‘I’m trying to remember the exact moment it hit me I think it was at the end of the first season. I remember coming home and thinking, “This is what I want to do with my life. I think I want to be an actor.” I was like 36. I’d already been doing it for 30 years.’ he said.
Kieran is one of seven children born to Patricia Brentrup and Kit Culkin, who became parents-turned-acting managers, and took 15 per cent of son Macaulay’s pay when he was earning up to $8million per film.
Talking about his chaotic upbringing with his parents, who seemed eager to make all their children actors, Kieran said: ‘It got to a place of like, “Sure, you want kids? What gender? What age? Yeah, we got a bunch. Here, take this one.”‘
Wild child: Kieran returns this month in Succession, as the scene-stealing Roman Roy
Signs of family struggle emerged early on in their careers, after it was claimed that Macaulay had ‘divorced’ his parents.
But, years later, Macaulay clarified that he ’emancipated’ himself from them and taken their names of his trust in order to protect his fortune.
Although the Home Alone star has previously accused his father Kit of being physically and mentally abusive, Kieran insists that he did not face the same treatment at the hands of his dad – although he conceded to The Hollywood Reporter that ‘he wasn’t a good person and… probably not a good parent’.
Speaking about his first reunion with his father in 2014 – which came not long after Kit suffered a stroke – Kieran described what it was like to see his parent for the first time in 17 years, before revealing that they have not seen or spoken to each other since.
‘He carried cards around with him that said, “I’m not stupid. I understand you. I just had a stroke,”‘ Kieran revealed. ‘He was telling me that his girlfriend had dementia and it was pretty bad.
‘And so, I said, “So, when you guys go places, she doesn’t know where you’re going and you can’t communicate how you’re get- ting there.’ And he goes, “Yeah — we’re quite a pair.”‘
Succession Season 3 returns to Sky Atlantic and NOW from 2am on October 18, 2021. Seasons 1-2 are available to catch up now on Sky On-Demand and NOW.