CULKIN COURAGE
The actor steps up for his mum in her hour of need
Kieran Culkin started the year by bagging three major awards – but the Succession star has been harbouring a secret heartache.
It’s been revealed that Kieran, 41, has been caring for his beloved mother Patricia Brentrup, who’s struggling with an undisclosed illness.
Insiders say Patricia, 69, stayed with Kieran and his family in New York for several months at the end of last year and was so ill, she couldn’t be with her other famous son, Macaulay Culkin, 43, when his star was unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in December.
Says Kieran’s stepdad Mart Cox, “Kieran was looking after her and she was going to doctors in the city.”
Patricia, who normally lives with Mart in Montana, was also unable to be present when Kieran received his Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice and Emmy gongs for his role as
Roman Roy in Succession. On the podiums, however, the actor paid homage to the woman who raised him and his six siblings.
At the Golden Globes, the dad-of-two said, “Mum, thank you so much for doing everything for us. You’re an amazing woman.”
And at the Emmys, the star said, “I’ve got to switch to the personal really fast. I have to thank my mum for giving me life, my childhood, which was great.”
Backstage, the actor took a veiled swipe at his estranged father, Kit Culkin, saying of his early years, “There was a guy there – he didn’t do anything.”
Former Broadway actor and taxi driver Kit, 79, split from Patricia in 1995, and in his 2006 memoir Macaulay, the Home Alone star documented years of physical and mental abuse meted out by their dad.
Rather than dwelling on the past, Kieran is now intent on celebrating his mother, saying, “She’s just an absolutely wonderful woman who took on raising seven kids by herself.”
Alec Baldwin is facing fresh charges in connection to the fatal shooting on the set of his movie Rust – and sources say the star is beside himself.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, died from her injuries after a prop gun Alec was holding unexpectedly fired during a scene rehearsal in October 2021.
The 30 Rock star, 65, was later charged with involuntary manslaughter. Those charges were eventually dropped, but the veteran actor has now been charged again, this time with involuntary manslaughter (negligent use of a firearm) or alternatively, with involuntary manslaughter (without due caution or circumspection).
The star – who shares seven children, aged between 10 and one, with his yoga instructor wife Hilaria Baldwin, 40, and daughter Ireland, 28, with his first wife Kim Basinger, 70 – faces up to 18 months in prison if found guilty.
“They had a great Christmas and New Year,” says a source close to Alec and Hilaria. “This is not how they wanted to start the New Year. They knew there was a possibility there would be a new indictment. The back and forth is hard.”
Alec has always maintained he was told the gun was not loaded when it was handed to him on set, and that he never pulled the trigger.
His lawyers say they “look forward to our day in court”.
Meanwhile, the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 27, who previously pled not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, is expected to stand trial in February.