Macaulay Culkin went from child star to cautionary tale about what happens when you become famous too young.

Then he became caught up in the Michael Jackson sexual abuse scandal (more on that later), all the while working on his The Velvet Underground tribute band, The Pizza Underground. 

Anything that combines The Velvet Underground and pizza is fine by me.

Now, he’s 39 (feel old, yet?), runs a podcast and a satire website called Bunny Ears, and hasn’t really appeared in any recent films, although he did audition for Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. 

In other news, Culkin owns a few cats, is dating Brenda Song, smokes Parliament cigarettes, and enjoys playing the video game WrestleMania 2000.

He also recently did an interview with Esquire’s Ryan D’Agostino.

He’s looking good.

Let’s take in the highlights from that interview via VICE, starting with Culkin’s drug dependency:

“I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t had drugs in my life at some point or another. I had some illuminating experiences—but also it’s fuckin’ stupid, too, you know? So besides the occasional muscle relaxer, no, I don’t do drugs recreationally.

I still kinda drink like a fish. I drink and I smoke. But I don’t touch the things. I do love them. They’re like old friends. But sometimes you outgrow your friends.”

Culkin is probably tired of answering questions about Michael Jackson, but he clarified his relationship with him, anyway:

“Look,” he says. “I’m gonna begin with the line—it’s not a line, it’s the truth: He never did anything to me. I never saw him do anything. And especially at this flash point in time, I’d have no reason to hold anything back.

The guy has passed on. If anything—I’m not gonna say it would be stylish or anything like that, but right now is a good time to speak up. And if I had something to speak up about, I would totally do it. But no, I never saw anything; he never did anything.

He goes on to describe an awkward encounter with James Franco after Leaving Neverland came out.

“Here’s a good Michael Jackson story that doesn’t involve Michael Jackson at all: I ran into James Franco on a plane. I’d bumped into him two or three times over the years. I give him a little nod as we’re putting our bags overhead. Hey, how you doing? Good, how ya doing? And it was right after the Leaving Neverland documentary came out, and he goes, ‘So, that documentary!’

And that was all he said. I was like, ‘Uh-huh.’ Silence. So then he goes, ‘So what do you think?’ And I turned to him and I go, ‘Do you wanna talk about your dead friend?’ And he sheepishly went, ‘No, I don’t.’ So I said, ‘Cool, man, it was nice to see you.’ ”

I’ll leave you with Culkin and his podcast Bunny Ears – The Pizza Underground reunion episode:

[source:vice]