Yahoo Lifestyle “It Doesn’t Get Easier”: Kieran Culkin Just Got Seriously Real About The Pain Of His Older Sister Dakota’s Tragic Death
Kieran Culkin has opened up about his older sister Dakota Culkin’s tragic death, and revealed the sweet way that he honored her during his time on Succession.
In case you didn’t know, Kieran is one of Kit Culkin and Patricia Brentrup’s seven children, with Kit accused of being physically and mentally abusive toward his family in recent years.Born right in the middle of the clan, Kieran’s older siblings are Shane, Dakota, and former child star Macaulay Culkin, who shot to fame in movies like Home Alone and My Girl.
Quinn, Christian, and Rory are the three youngest children, with Rory also enjoying a successful acting career like his two brothers.
The family of nine grew up in a four-room apartment in New York City, which Kieran returned to in a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
Speaking about his close relationship with his siblings on the show, Kieran said: “We lived in a tight space where it was just seven of us running around. It was like a sort of little wolf-pack mentality.”
“Whenever the door would open to let the kids in, I used to stand aside and make sure, and I used to count to make sure all six of them got in before I got in,” he added. “That's how I remember growing up, too. I couldn't fall asleep until they all fell asleep. Like, I only existed because they did around me."
But in December 2008, the Culkin siblings were struck by tragedy when Dakota, aka “Cody,” was hit by a car while crossing Lincoln Boulevard in Marina del Rey, California, and died at age 29.
Kieran was 26 years old at the time, and said that her death never gets easier.
“I only knew who I was because of who my siblings are,” he explained. “So, to lose one was losing a big piece of myself. Losing one of my favorite people in the world, it doesn't get easier. But you get used to it, I guess.”
And Kieran realized that he was inadvertently channeling Dakota when he was acting as Roman Roy in the hit HBO series Succession, which won him his first Emmy award.
“After a couple seasons on Succession, 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 shared. “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."
Meanwhile, Kieran’s brother Macaulay honored their late sister when he and his fiancée, Brenda Song, welcomed their first child in 2021. The two named their baby boy Dakota in his sibling’s memory.
Kieran previously opened up about Dakota’s death in a 2021 profile with the Hollywood Reporter, where he said: “That’s the worst thing that’s ever happened, and there’s no sugarcoating that one.”
“I accepted at the time that this is going to be forever, and it’s never going to be fine,” he went on. “It’s always going to be devastating. I still weep about it out of nowhere.”
“Something funny she did will pop in the head and make me laugh, and then I’m weeping,” Kieran continued. “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.”
You can watch Kieran's full CBS Sunday Morning interview here:
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