Kieran Culkin Shares How Death of Sister Dakota Still Affects Him 16 Years Later
When Kieran Culkin lost his older sister Dakota Culkin, he also lost a "big piece of himself" from that day forward.
"We lived in a tight space where it was just seven of us running around. It was like a sort of little wolfpack mentality," the "Succession" star told host Mo Rocca.
"Whenever the door would open to let the kids in," he added, "I used to stand aside and count to make sure all six of them got in before I got in. That's how I remember growing up, too. I couldn't fall asleep until they all fell asleep. I only existed because they did around me."
In 2008, Dakota Culkin died after she was struck by a car in Los Angeles and succumbed to her injuries. She was 29.
"I only knew who I was because of who my siblings are. So, to lose one was losing a big piece of myself," the Emmy winner said of his late sister.
For Culkin, the grief from losing his sister is something he is learning to live with, although it remains difficult.
"Losing one of my favorite people in the world, it doesn't get better," he said. "It doesn't get easier, but you get used to it."
However, through his best-known role as Roman Roy in the drama series "Succession," which aired from 2018 to 2023, Culkin kept his sister's memory close and her joyful spirit alive.
"After a couple seasons, I realized there was some stuff that Roman did that I was like, 'Oh, that's my sister, that was her sense of humor,'" he explained. "She could find exactly what the right thing to make fun of you was that would get to you, but be really funny and make the room laugh. That was her."
Culkin, who has two children with his wife of 11 years, Jazz Charton, 36, said it is difficult to accept that his children will never meet their aunt.
"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."
However, Dakota's name lives on. When brother Macaulay Culkin and his wife Brenda Song had their first child in 2021, they named him Dakota after the "My Girl" actor's late sister.
Kieran Culkin is the fourth child of former actor Kit Culkin and Patricia Brentrup, who had seven children total, including Shane, 48, Quinn, 39, Christian, 37, and Rory, 35.
For the 42-year-old actor, growing up in a New York City apartment building made for some unique childhood memories.
"I remember my mom baking a cake and it would come out slanted because the whole apartment was on a slant," he said during the interview. "We used to put cars on one end of the kitchen and let go and see them roll."
Born on Sept. 30, 1982, Kieran Culkin made his film debut alongside his brother Macaulay Culkin in 1990's "Home Alone." He also appeared in other comedies throughout his childhood and teenage years, including 1991's "Father of the Bride," 1992's "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York," and 1995's "Father of the Bride Part II."
Culkin is best known for his role as Roman Roy in the HBO drama "Succession." He earned a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance in the series.
