Macaulay Culkin revealed that his young kids don’t realize Home Alone star Kevin McCallister is their dad. On the ‘On Film…With Kevin McCarthy’ podcast, Culkin shared that his sons enjoy watching his movies but think he’s just another character on screen

“I do really love watching that movie with my boys,” the actor said of his and Brenda Song’s sons Dakota, 4, and Carson, 3

Macaulay Culkin with son Carson in 2023; Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in ‘Home Alone’.Credit : Amy Sussman/Getty; 20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

To a lot of people, Macaulay Culkin will always be Kevin McCallister. To his kids, he’s just dad.

While celebrating the 35th anniversary of the first Home Alone film at the Long Beach Terrace Theater as part of his A Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin tour, the actor, 45, revealed that despite watching the movie with his and fiancée Brenda Song’s young sons “often,” they have yet to make the connection that Kevin is Culkin at age 10.

Detailing that his sons — Dakota, 4, and Carson, 3 — “really love” Home Alone, the actor said during the tour stop on Saturday, Nov. 22, that it is a “completely different experience” watching the film with them.

Macaulay Culkin with son Carson in December 2023.Amy Sussman/Getty

And while they will even get excited when they see the young character in montages on Disney+, where the film is available to stream, Culkin said, “They have no idea that I’m Kevin.”

“They’re only three and four years old,” continued the actor, adding that he wants “to keep up that illusion as long as possible.”

Sill, Culkin said his eldest has started connecting the dots, but he’s not fully there just yet.

The former child star recalled a night when he was putting the 4-year-old to bed “[and he] started asking questions about my siblings.”

So Culkin said he showed his son an old family photo of all seven of his brothers and sisters, and he recalled that his son “immediately looks at me and goes, ‘That kid looks like Kevin.’ ”

He quickly moved on from the observation, however, echoing once again that he wants to keep the “illusion” alive.

Culkin said that Dakota also “thinks he’s Kevin.”

“‘Do you remember when you kicked burglars out?’ And he’s like, ‘Yep.’ ‘You slide down the stairs?’ ‘I sure do.’ I was like, ‘You liar! That was me,’ ” he recalled of one funny father-son moment.

Macaulay Culkin in ‘Home Alone’.20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

He also shared a sweet memory, in which he and Dakota both mimicked a dance move that Kevin does in the film. “Yeah, I do really love watching that movie with my boys,” Culkin said.

Culkin famously played the plucky kid who single-handedly fends off robbers in the 1990 original Home Alone and its 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Outside of reflecting on the legacy of the films for his A Nostalgic Night tour, Culkin recently reprised the beloved role for a commercial for Home Instead.

Song told Bustle in a January 2025 cover story that the couple intentionally shields them from the spotlight.

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody actress recalled her son once asking her at a soccer game, “Why is that man taking pictures of you, mama?” before telling the outlet, “You could take pictures of me all day. I don’t care. But when it’s your kids, it’s different. They didn’t ask for this life.”