Macaulay Culkin has opened up about how his much-publicized friendship with the late Michael Jackson began when he was just 10 years old.
The actor, now 42, found fame as a child star in Home Alone as well as many other hit films from the 90s including My Girl and Richie Rich.
Often hailed as one of the greatest child actors of all time, Culkin soon reached worldwide fame - and even caught the attention of Jackson.
The pair developed a famous friendship despite the large age gap between them, which also saw Macaulay visit the singer at his home, the Neverland Ranch, which Jackson had kitted out with its own zoo and fairground rides among other outlandish features.
Culkin revealed in a previous interview how he and the 'Thriller' singer ended up getting to know each other in the first place.
He explained in an interview with Larry King: "I first met him, he kind of called me randomly, like, out of the blue, he was just kind of like, 'Hi, it's Michael', and I'm like, 'Hey'.
"This was after Home Alone. I'd actually met him once before when I was doing The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center, I was playing Fritz, and he came backstage one day and I actually met him very briefly. And he kind of recognized me because it was after I'd done Uncle Buck."
While much was made about the fact that Jackson was 22 years older than Culkin - and in his thirties while the actor was still a young child - Culkin revealed in a later interview that he believes the singer identified with him due to their fast rise to fame.
He explained: "Yeah, he reached out to me, because a lot of things were happening like, you know, big and fast with me, and I think yes, I think yeah he identified with that.
"And then he calls me up kind of out of the blue, it's kind of just this weird, random thing. He was like, 'Why don't you come over to my house?'"
Culkin opened up on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast about their first meeting, revealing: "He came backstage before the show.
"He loved dance, he was a dance man. He came backstage with Donald Trump, because they were friendly back then.
"I remember he looked at me like, I know you from somewhere. 'Oh, Uncle Buck, yeah, you’re funny'."
Jackson, who died at the age of 50 in 2009, had faced allegations of abuse by several young boys who had visited him at Neverland, and rumors circulated that he may have been inappropriate with Culkin, which is something the actor has always denied.
Culkin spoke out in a recent interview with Esquire to reveal that the 'Bad' star never behaved inappropriately with him and he never witnessed any untoward behaviour with anyone else.
He told the publication: "Look, 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 flashpoint in time, I'd have no reason to hold anything back. The guy has passed on."
Featured image credit: Sipa US / Alamy
