Joe Rogan Experience #1153 - Macaulay Culkin

Macaulay Culkin is an actor and musician. He recently started a website called BunnyEars.com - https://bunnyears.com - and also a podcast available on iTunes.

Joe RoganhostMacaulay Culkinguest

Aug 7, 20181h 48mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

150 min read · 30,000 words

0:06 – 1:26
Surviving child stardom without losing normalcy
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Boom, and we're live.
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  And we're live.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Hey, pull the sucker up there.
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Get that a little closer? A little closer?
5. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, okay. Yeah, right about there.
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, here we go. All right.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  How are you, fellas? What's going on?
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Fantastic. Uh, how are you doing?
9. JRJoe Rogan
  Very nice to meet you.
10. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Nice to meet you, too.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  You're remarkably normal.
12. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Oh, thanks. (laughs)
13. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
14. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know, people are always struck at, uh, how normal I am.
15. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
16. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I'm like, it's just like, "Wow, really?" I think my, my reputation-
17. JRJoe Rogan
  Like, you made it through the maze-
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I guess so.
19. JRJoe Rogan
  ... of being a famous child.
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  That's a very unusual maze.
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, yeah, uh, my life is unique to me. That's what I like to say. You know, yeah, and, uh, I'm almost like a peerless person, like to a certain-
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... extent. There's not too many people I can look left and right, and we, you know, I, I ... And like, we have similar experiences, you know?
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, is there anybody that you ever contacted, like Jodie Foster or someone who's made it through and seems pretty put together?
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Not really. Like-
27. JRJoe Rogan
  No?
28. MCMacaulay Culkin
  No, not really. I mean, it's kind of a weird cold call, you know?
29. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
30. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Kind of just like, "Hey, Jodie Foster." (laughs)
1:26 – 3:48
What it’s like to grow up as the center of a movie set
1. JRJoe Rogan
  I was describing what it was like ... I have a friend who, uh, Ricky Schroder, who, uh, is, um, you know, obviously he was very famous when he was young-
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  ... as well. And, uh-
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  One of my favorite theme songs, TV theme songs of all time.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  Silver Spoons?
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Silver Spoons? Oh, yeah.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  And I was saying, like, the, uh, you ... The way you developed is not like the way the recipe calls.
10. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Like, the recipe calls for you to have a childhood and try to figure out life and then become a man and then try to find yourself and then-
12. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  ... try to find your path.
14. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm.
15. JRJoe Rogan
  And by the time you bec- he became a man, he was already famous and-
16. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  ... the same thing with you. You were already famous-
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm.
19. JRJoe Rogan
  ... as you were developing and learning.
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah. You know, yeah. I, I, I, I don't know exactly how to, like, kind of even describe it because-
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... it's always the way my life has been kind of thing. Uh, in the same way that, like, a lot of kids, like, you know, they go out and they, you know, catch bugs and play sand lot baseball or whatever.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Like, yeah, it's just like, yeah, like that's the way it is. Like, you don't really realize how unique the whole situation is until you have perspective 'cause you have nothing to compare it to really, other than, I guess, TV shows and movies and-
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... things like that. So I knew that my upbringing was unique, you know, and I knew, I, uh, knew it was different, but at the same time, it's kind of just ... It's not until you get some perspective, some life experience bef- until you really realize that, oh, wait, this w- this was particularly weird. Mm-hmm.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  You know, I think one of the aspects that's particularly weird about it is a lot of kids that grow up famous, they grow up on the set.
28. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  And they grow up constantly around people who treat them very differently-
30. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (coughs)
3:48 – 4:50
Child labor laws, school hours, and why filming takes forever
1. JRJoe Rogan
  It's where the child labor laws don't apply to acting.
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, they do.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Do they?
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm pretty well versed in child labor laws.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs) Well, how's that work then?
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, it goes from state to state.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Um, they can work you, like, let, let's say, like, in New York, uh, they can work you 10 hours.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, but it ... Stop right there. They can work you.
10. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Well-
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Like, you can't get a job if you're eight.
12. MCMacaulay Culkin
  That, that's what you're, that's what you're kind of, like, that's what their limit is.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
14. MCMacaulay Culkin
  And at the same time, you have to get three hours of schooling in plus an hour of lunch. So really, your only, your available window is only six hours or something like that-
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
16. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... a day, and that, like, that also in, like ... In that six hours, they're always, like, setting up the lights for the next shot and, you know-
17. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... the hurry up and wait kind of part of, you know, of things. That's why, like, the second Home Alone, it took, like, nearly five months to film because they can only ... I mean, uh, virtually every scene and they can only use me X amount of hours-
19. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... per day kind of thing.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  But that ... Isn't that the only job that you can work when you're eight years old?
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I don't know. I, I-
23. JRJoe Rogan
  I mean, you, you can't be a carpenter.
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I mean, I guess you can do modeling, you know what I mean? But like-
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... some kind of performing arts kind of thing, like there are dancers and so forth.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
4:50 – 6:03
Before Hollywood: ballet training, memorization skills, and set competence
1. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Um, 'cause I was a, uh, uh, I was a ballet dancer before I was an actor, okay?
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Really?
3. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Like, yeah. Yeah, I, I did ballet for a number of years. I'm a classically trained ballerina right here.
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Wow.
5. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  Is it a ballerina if you're a man?
7. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I, I call it ... I, I, I say I'm a ballet dancer.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  Hmm.
9. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Um, but there is a weird ballerino-
10. JRJoe Rogan
  Ooh.
11. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... like, that some of them use and I'm like, "I'm not ... I, I, I don't think I can call myself a ballerino."
12. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
13. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Like, I just, like, can't. It's too bro-y.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  Sounds like it's from Welcome Back Kotter.
15. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, exactly. (laughs)
16. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
17. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah. Ballerino. I'm Billy Ballerino. (laughs)
18. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
19. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yep. So, uh, I did that for a number of years and there's a bunch of kids, like, you know, that do that and you get paid and you do the work.
20. JRJoe Rogan
  Wow.
21. MCMacaulay Culkin
  So, you know, there are other, I guess, trades that-
22. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, it seems like it's all-
23. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I mean, I don't think-
24. JRJoe Rogan
  ... show business, though, right?
25. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah. I, uh, that's what I mean. I think it's more in the performing arts kind of thing, like, you know, you don't, uh, you don't see a lot of kids work in the coal mines anymore, like that kind of thing.
26. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, for good reason, right? But p- uh, some people think that that-
27. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (laughs) It's like my six-year-old's dying of black lung, you know? (laughs)
28. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs) Woof.There's some horrible pictures from like the early 1900s of people actually working in the coal mines-
29. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah.
30. JRJoe Rogan
  ... when they're little tiny kids.
6:03 – 7:52
No control as a kid: parents choosing projects and the surreal routine
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Did you have any say in whether or not you worked when you were young?
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, not really. No.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  No.
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Like, it- after a while, it became, like I said, a job, and it was- I, like, I never chose the projects. They, they were, like, my parents-
5. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... like, you know, essentially, like, chose them for me.
7. JRJoe Rogan
  So they were like-
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  So it was kinda show-
9. JRJoe Rogan
  ... "Good news, Macaulay."
10. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, exactly. You know, yep, yep. Yeah, they called me Macaulay.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  "You're gonna buy us a new house."
12. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (laughs)
13. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
14. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah, there you go, you know? And like, I never read any of the scripts.
15. JRJoe Rogan
  (sighs) Wow.
16. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Like, I would, I would just read, like, the lines for like the next day or whatever. Like, I would, like, get the gist of what the movie was about and, but then I'd just kinda show up and hit my marks, find my light, you know, uh, you know-
17. JRJoe Rogan
  That must have been s-
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... and, and recite my lines, you know?
19. JRJoe Rogan
  ... so surreal.
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  It's kinda just, like, again, like, it's what you do.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Like, it's, like in the same way that, like, yeah, like, kids go to, like, school or something like that. Like, you know, you, you, you fall into a routine to a certain extent.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know?
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Well, that's the thing about the human mind, right? It's so flexible.
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  You can, you could adapt to any sort of weird scenario.
28. MCMacaulay Culkin
  And especially when you're a kid, I mean, like, uh, you, you can just bounce, like, all the time. Like I, it's like-
29. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, kids adapt so easy.
30. MCMacaulay Culkin
  E- exactly.
7:52 – 10:56
Aging realities: ulcers, colonoscopies, and lifestyle changes
1. JRJoe Rogan
  How old are you now?
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I'm 37. I'm about to be 38, uh, in, like, two weeks.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Feels weird, doesn't it?
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah. You know, yeah. Like, uh, my, my, my, my bowels are different, like... (laughs)
5. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs) What's different about your bowels?
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Oh, yeah, no. Just like, uh, oh, actually, I just got a, a, a, doing some, like, random checkup kinda thing, and they're like, "Oh, we should scope you." You know? So, and they also g- you know, they ... I did the, the scoping, like, you know, in my stomach kinda thing, but they also, uh, you know, ch- I got a colonoscopy. So I was actually hoping, like, 'cause they were putting me under, so I was like, didn't really matter to me, but I was gonna hope-
7. JRJoe Rogan
  They put you under for a colonoscopy?
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah. You know, at least I had that and a scoping, so I think-
9. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, the things down the throat.
10. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I don't know if, uh ... I, I was hoping, I was actually hoping they were going to, uh, uh, use the butt one first and then put it in my mouth.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Why?
12. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (laughs) You know, just like-
13. JRJoe Rogan
  (coughs)
14. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... you know, just, uh, ass to mouth, boom, like in here, but no, no.
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Okay.
16. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Apparently, they use different cameras. Like, oh, right. You know? (laughs)
17. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, they're probably designed different.
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (laughs) Yeah.
19. JRJoe Rogan
  They don't go as deep, right?
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  But, uh, um, 'cause they were like, all worried I might have an ulcer.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh.
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, and so the good, good news-
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Did you have stomach pains or something?
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah. Kind of it's been a little iffy. And, uh, so the good news is I didn't have an ulcer. Bad news is I have two ulcers. (laughs) So, like-
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, wow.
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah. So I'm dealing with that. I've had to, like, curtail my lifestyle in general. Like, I'm eating less red meat. You know, less carbonated beverages. Like, ibuprofen, no more ibuprofen. Like, that kinda stuff.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  Ibuprofen's terrible for your gut.
28. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, exactly. So, like, I've had to, like, you know ... I used to, like, eat, like, burgers every single day, and now it's like, I can have two servings of red meat a week kinda thing. And-
29. JRJoe Rogan
  What-
30. MCMacaulay Culkin
  It wasn't too hard for me to curtail my lifestyle, like smoking less, trying to drink less, like, things like that.
10:56 – 24:03
Thailand parasites, cat exposure, and toxoplasmosis behavior theory
1. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Also, if you, like, uh, 'cause I did a movie in Thailand, uh, like, last year. And, uh, came back, you know, came back with a worm. So, you know, yeah.
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, yeah.
3. MCMacaulay Culkin
  One of those, like, single-cell kind. Like, you know, when-
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Ooh.
5. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... when I was getting the medication for it, I was like, "So what do I, what should, what should I expect from this?" And he's like, "What do you ex- I expect you to get better." I go, "N- yeah, but, like, you know, what's ..." Like I said, "Am I gonna shit a worm?"
6. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
7. MCMacaulay Culkin
  "Am I gonna shit out a worm?" And they're like, "No, no, no."
8. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
9. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (laughs) Like, it's one of those single-cell ones. But, uh, it made me more susceptible, uh, to, like, getting ulcers, w- you know, so ...
10. JRJoe Rogan
  Is this because of the antibiotics that you had to take for the worm or anti-worming stuff?
11. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I, I think, I, I, I think it just, it, it messes with your stomach chemistry kinda thing, like, you know.
12. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm. And so after that is when you got the ulcer.
13. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, exactly.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
15. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Exactly. So, you know-
16. JRJoe Rogan
  Wow.
17. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... so dealing with it, like, it's actually-
18. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
19. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... it's actually not so bad. Like, you know, like, I, like ... So-
20. JRJoe Rogan
  So what does it do to you? Like, how does it, what does an ulcer do?
21. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, you know, sometimes you kinda get a little pain, things like that.
22. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
23. MCMacaulay Culkin
  And, uh, um, uh-... yeah, like I mean, at one point I was, like, shitting, like, 10 times a day kinda thing.
24. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh.
25. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know what I mean? Like it was kinda just, like, it kinda loosens your stool a little bit and looking-
26. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, weird.
27. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah, it kinda gets mucusy. Like, I mean, I can go in-
28. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, hey.
29. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I can go into it. That's what I mean.
30. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24:03 – 29:00
Choosing leisure: selective acting, creative projects, and BunnyEars.com
1. JRJoe Rogan
  What were you doing in, so what was this movie in Thailand?
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, it was my buddy, uh, Seth Green, was, uh, he wrote and directed a movie. And so ...... he asked me to do something in it. And you know, like, I don't, 'cause I don't really pursue acting, like, at all kind of thing. It, and I, and I'm not saying it was a favor or anything like that-
3. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... but at the same time, it was like, "Yeah. Like, sounds like fun." So, uh, it's a cool cast. It's like him, uh, he's in it, uh, Breckin Meyer's in it, uh, Brenda Song, uh, me, you know.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  So do you just like do whatever you want these days and just occasionally act when it comes up?
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, if it comes up. Like, you know, if it's a cool, like, neat little gig or something like that, like yeah, sure. But, uh, like I said, I don't pursue it in any kind of, like, any way. Like, I don't have agents anymore and things like that. So I can-
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Is that because you're just not interested or?
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, kinda not interested. I don't really like the, uh, the pursuit of it.
9. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
10. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know, like yeah, like what it takes to-
11. JRJoe Rogan
  The whole process-
12. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  ... auditions and readings and-
14. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Exactly. I don't like, I don't like being on the circuit kind of thing, looking around, so. Uh, but yeah, no, I, um, you know, I write a lot, I paint a lot. Like, I just kind of always have like, like some kind of projects. And then also, uh, like I said, we got the, the website, uh, bunnyears.com kind of thing.
15. JRJoe Rogan
  And what is that?
16. MCMacaulay Culkin
  That is a, it's a comedy website.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  (clears throat)
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  It's pretty much, uh, uh, (clicks tongue) like, uh, like you know how all these celebrities, especially like ladies, they have those, uh, lifestyle websites?
19. JRJoe Rogan
  All of them?
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Well, a lot of them do. You know, like yeah, like Goop, you know, is one of them.
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah, it's the only one that I know of. Is there other ones?
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Oh, yeah, yeah. No, it's like yeah, it's, uh-
23. JRJoe Rogan
  The Goop one's the most egregious though.
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, that's the, well, that's, the thing is that... So this is, this is like Goop meets The Onion. Uh, so-
25. JRJoe Rogan
  Goop is like Goop meets The Onion. (laughs)
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, I know, well, yeah, but accidentally-
27. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
28. MCMacaulay Culkin
  But accidentally, you know, yeah.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  (coughs) They're telling you to put jade balls up your vagina.
30. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I know, believe me, we, we, we had a very-
29:00 – 31:23
Money, gratitude, and the ‘man of leisure’ lifestyle
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Um, so you're basically financially set from all those movies, you, so-
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I do okay for myself, you know. Yeah.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  But do you just put that money away and just live off the interest? Is that right?
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Pretty much. Pretty much, you know, yeah. And, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm able to kind of live the life that, you know, like that I, I, that my circumstances afforded me. I'm, I'm, I'm, like I said, I'm very, very, very lucky.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Um, um, you know, lots of weird things happen-
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... to kids all the time, all around the world, every day. You know, I, I have something to show for it.... you know, like, uh, like, you know? So it, it's nice. I can, I can live, uh, uh, um, what is it? It's a... My buddy, Jack, he goes-
9. JRJoe Rogan
  That's a weird way to describe a movie career.
10. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, pretty much.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  Lots of weird things happen to kids.
12. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, man, I'm not-
13. JRJoe Rogan
  But I, I got some money out of it. (laughs)
14. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Look, I'm, I'm not working, like, the diamond mines, I'm not a child soldier. You know what I mean?
15. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
16. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Like, I, you know, I, like, I, I got, like, I came out the other end, uh, uh, and I have something to show for it, and I'm very, like ... I, I, I do feel blessed every morning kind of thing, like, yeah.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  So you're happy that it all worked out that way?
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah, exactly.
19. JRJoe Rogan
  If you could go back and do it again, would you do it the same way?
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, knowing what I know now? I mean, probably. I, you know-
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah?
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... I'd probably, yeah, I'd probably be even more charming.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (laughs) I'd do it just better. (laughs)
25. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs) Oh, of course you would, right?
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, exactly.
27. JRJoe Rogan
  Go back and do it now.
28. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah.
29. JRJoe Rogan
  Can you imagine if you just, uh, have your brain in a little kid's body?
30. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, yeah. No, I, I, I, I would kill it.
31:23 – 34:22
Paris living: culture, pace of life, and why everyone stays thin
1. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah. Well, you lived in Paris, you were saying, for a while?
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, I was liv- yeah. Lived there for a number of years. I mean, I still have a, I still have my place there. But, uh, since, like, like, 2013, something like that. It's only in the last year I've been kinda spending more time in the States. Uh-
3. JRJoe Rogan
  What was it that brought you to Paris?
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Well, the food sucks, the wine's terrible, and the women are ugly. But, uh-
5. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  But otherwise-
7. JRJoe Rogan
  Ah.
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... it's, it's fantastic. Yeah. (laughs)
9. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
10. MCMacaulay Culkin
  No, it's okay. It, it, it was an agreeable lifestyle. I had a bunch of friends out there. They were sort- always asking me, uh, "When are you gonna move to Paris and when are you gonna learn French?" kind of thing.
11. JRJoe Rogan
  What, your, your friends in Paris were asking you that?
12. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah.
13. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah?
14. MCMacaulay Culkin
  And, uh, I was there just kind of, like, I was just kinda jumping around a little bit. And so, um, I, I thought about it for a second and I went, "You know what? How's next week?"
15. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
16. MCMacaulay Culkin
  So I said, "I'm gonna leave my bags here, I'm gonna fly back to New York. I'm gonna go and, you know, I'll, uh, put my affairs in order." And I said, "I'll be back next week." Uh, I said, "I'll, uh, I'm ready to live here." It, I mean, I realized that if I could pick up and just move to France on a whim, um, and it wouldn't affect, like, you know, like, anyone's life or it wouldn't hurt anybody or anything like that, I'd be remiss if I didn't.
17. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm.
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Look, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, like, how many, how many times in my life ... I couldn't do that now, but I could do it back then kind of thing.
19. JRJoe Rogan
  Right.
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know what I mean? So I was like, yeah, like, no, I should just f- fuck it. Like, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna live in Paris now, you know? Yeah. And it was, it was great. It was-
21. JRJoe Rogan
  A lot of people have done that. Johnny Depp lived there for a little while. I know Richard Belzer-
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, he still has a place.
23. JRJoe Rogan
  ... lived there for a while.
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm. No, it's, it's a special place. I mean-
25. JRJoe Rogan
  What's, what's special about it?
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Um, I mean, a- again, food and wine's f- fantastic. Like, the girls are pretty. Like, i- it's the leisurely kind of, like, lifestyle a little bit. Like, I like, I like their eating habits. You know, like, i- i- it's, like, a light breakfast and kinda gets heavier as you kinda go along in the day. Uh, you kind of eat later, which is kind of like, you know, like, like ... Oh, oh, you're American, you must wanna eat dinner at, like, 8:00. (laughs)
27. JRJoe Rogan
  What time do they eat?
28. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, like, 10:00. You know, like-
29. JRJoe Rogan
  10:00 PM?
30. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, about 10:00 PM is like a, you know, kind of a, you know, an ideal, like, dinner kind of time. Um-
34:22 – 52:55
Style, masculinity, and owning the ‘purse’ (plus Hollywood eccentricity)
1. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I, I have, I, I use inside pockets. I got, I got inside pockets.
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh, yeah.
3. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Th- that's my purse.
4. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm. Well, that works too.
5. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I also have this, I, I have a satchel that I, I travel around with also.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh.
7. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Like, yeah. Look at this.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  Man purse.
9. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah. Exactly.
10. JRJoe Rogan
  Satchel.
11. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah. You know what? It's actually ... I do call it my purse, like, you know, in day-to-day kinda thing, 'cause it's like, someone's like, "Oh, it's a satchel," or, "It's a murse." I'm like, "No, no, no. It's a purse." Like-
12. JRJoe Rogan
  Man.
13. MCMacaulay Culkin
  ... I, like, no, no illusions here, guys.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  Isn't it funny that wou- you would be insulted or, uh, more positive about it if it had a different sound coming out of your mouth?
15. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah. Right? And it's like, no, no, no. It's, it's a purse.
16. JRJoe Rogan
  It's the exact same thing.
17. MCMacaulay Culkin
  It's a purse.
18. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
19. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know what I mean?
20. JRJoe Rogan
  It's a purse.
21. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know, yeah. So, um, you know-
22. JRJoe Rogan
  Why, why, what, what happened there? Why did men ... How come we can't have purses?
23. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Right?
24. JRJoe Rogan
  No one's gonna do that. Like, me- there's a few bold souls that would put on a fanny pack and walk out into public.
25. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah.
26. JRJoe Rogan
  But i- there's not a lotta people that will just actually wear-
27. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (laughs) I like how you just called yourself bold. (laughs)
28. JRJoe Rogan
  It's a joke.
29. MCMacaulay Culkin
  (laughs)
30. JRJoe Rogan
  But th- there's not a lot of people that would wear, uh, a- an actual purse, like a Louis Vuitton purse.
52:55 – 57:01
SNL memories: no cue cards, cast overlap, and celebs getting political
1. MCMacaulay Culkin
  When I did SNL, uh, I think it was the first season where he had, he had just left, I think.
2. JRJoe Rogan
  Oh.
3. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Uh, 'cause I did it, uh, pretty much p- probably if I had to pick a season, I would've been, that would've been the one I did 'cause you still had Carvey and you still had, you know, Hartman and Victoria Jackson, that, the whole kind of group. But, um ...
4. JRJoe Rogan
  I forgot about Victoria Jackson.
5. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah.
6. JRJoe Rogan
  She was fucking hilarious.
7. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah.
8. JRJoe Rogan
  What happened to her?
9. MCMacaulay Culkin
  She's a hardcore conservative now.
10. JRJoe Rogan
  What?
11. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah. Huge like right wing-
12. JRJoe Rogan
  Come on.
13. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Right winger. She's put on a little weight, you know, but haven't we all?
14. JRJoe Rogan
  Really?
15. MCMacaulay Culkin
  And, uh, yeah, yeah, and like, no, she's actually a hardcore conservative now. Like she, she shouts it from the, from the mountaintops, you know?
16. JRJoe Rogan
  What?
17. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
18. JRJoe Rogan
  What was she like when you met her?
19. MCMacaulay Culkin
  She was fine. I mean, listen-
20. JRJoe Rogan
  Was she conservative back then?
21. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I was, I was busy doing the show kinda thing.
22. JRJoe Rogan
  Right, right.
23. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know what I mean? Like I, that, 'cause it's a lot of work and-
24. JRJoe Rogan
  Sure.
25. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Not only that, I had to do, uh, um, I had to do it without cue cards 'cause my father didn't want me to use cue cards.
26. JRJoe Rogan
  Whoa.
27. MCMacaulay Culkin
  So I had to memorize all that stuff. Plus the-
28. JRJoe Rogan
  Well, fuck, dad.
29. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Plus, plus the skits that didn't even make into the show. So like I had to memorize like skits that didn't even end up in the show.
30. JRJoe Rogan
  What?
57:01 – 1:07:16
Chuck Woolery rabbit hole: game shows, old pop bands, and ‘Blunt Force Truth’
1. JRJoe Rogan
  We'll be right back in two and two.
2. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah.
3. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
4. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Two and two. Mm-hmm.
5. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
6. MCMacaulay Culkin
  I forget the name of that show. I remember I used to like it, that went on the Game Show Network, the one with all the boxes and it was like letters and stuff. Uh ... Fuck, I forget the name of it. Uh, uh ...
7. NANarrator
  He hosted so many.
8. MCMacaulay Culkin
  What's that?
9. NANarrator
  He hosted so many shows.
10. JRJoe Rogan
  Did he?
11. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah.
12. JRJoe Rogan
  I only remember the Love Connection.
13. NANarrator
  Oh, he had like f- 10 maybe. I don't know.
14. JRJoe Rogan
  Really?
15. MCMacaulay Culkin
  The, the, uh, the Ga- yeah, the Game Show Network, yeah, like when that like launched, like yeah, they're like, "Yeah, we can get, we can get Chuck Woolery."
16. JRJoe Rogan
  (laughs)
17. NANarrator
  (laughs)
18. MCMacaulay Culkin
  "So why not?" (laughs)
19. JRJoe Rogan
  "Well, I'll go on if you'll let me talk about the damn libs."
20. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Yeah, yeah. Exactly. You know-
21. JRJoe Rogan
  Mm-hmm.
22. MCMacaulay Culkin
  You know, Trebek and, uh, you know, was- was busy. Like, you know, he's already busy on his own thing, but we can get Woolery. You know?
23. JRJoe Rogan
  Yeah.
24. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Mm-hmm.
25. JRJoe Rogan
  How weird.
26. MCMacaulay Culkin
  And what was the guy-
27. NANarrator
  Scrabble or Lingo too.
28. MCMacaulay Culkin
  Lingo. There we go.
29. NANarrator
  Oh, there it is.
30. MCMacaulay Culkin
  That's the show. Yeah, that, that, that-