Why Brenda Song and Macaulay Culkin Did Not Get Along When They First Met: 'She Was Thoroughly Unimpressed by Me'

The couple, who began dating in 2017, share two sons, Dakota, 3, and Carson, 2, and have been engaged since 2022

ALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song on Oct. 19, 2024

ALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song on Oct. 19, 2024

Brenda Song and Macaulay Culkin have been together for years, but the couple's first meeting did not portend romance.

Song, 36, and Culkin, 44, opened up about their relationship to Cosmopolitan in an article published Monday, Jan. 27; as they spoke about possibly eloping following their 2022 engagement, the couple flashed back to 2014, when they first met at their mutual friend Seth Green's home.

The couple recalled that Culkin tried to make jokes about Song and Green's sitcom Dads getting canceled, which did not go over well. “He was trying to be funny about our show being canceled and I was not having it,” Song said, while Culkin noted, "She was thoroughly unimpressed by me is what I will say."

Three years later, the pair met again via Green, now 50, when he cast them in his movie Changeland. Per the outlet, Song and Culkin eventually grew close on the movie's set and bonded over card games and their shared interest in the name Dakota for a child; Song merely enjoyed "gender-ambiguous names," while Culkin had already decided he wanted to honor his late sister, who died at 29 in 2008, when he eventually had a child.

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Song and Culkin initially thought their connection would fade after filming, but they continued seeing each other even after Changeland wrapped.

Related: Brenda Song's Fiancé Macaulay Culkin Told Her 'You've Tamed the Beast' While Sitting in a Costco Parking Lot

Jessie Alcheh/NBAE via Getty Brenda Song and Macauley Culkin on Jan. 23, 2025 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles

Jessie Alcheh/NBAE via Getty

Brenda Song and Macauley Culkin on Jan. 23, 2025 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles

“I saw this person he put out there—it was a product of this armor that he’s put on to protect himself," Song said of getting to know Culkin. “But I could see that that wasn’t really who he was; I could see these glimpses of this really interesting, very sensitive, very intelligent, artistic person that he doesn’t really let show.”

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Today, Song and Culkin share sons Dakota, 3, and Carson, 2; Song is even making something of a career comeback with roles in recent movies like The Last Showgirl and the upcoming Netflix sports comedy series Running Point.

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Related: Brenda Song Reveals the Reason She and Fiancé Macaulay Culkin Keep Their Sons Out of the Spotlight

Olivia Wong/Getty  Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song on March 15, 2024

Olivia Wong/Getty

Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song on March 15, 2024

When the couple discussed which of them first knew they were in love with the other, Culkin offered, "I’d never felt this way before. I believed in her. I mean, I believed in people before, but I believed in her down to my bone marrow. You know what I mean? I put it behind the armor though, behind that shield.”

“That the public is like, ‘Wait, they’re together and they have kids?’ Good. That means we did our job,” Culkin also said of public attention on his and Song's relationship, which sparked after the entire family stepped out for the first time together at his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in December 2023.

“There was a point in time where I was like, ‘I must be in a simulation! I have two children with Macaulay Culkin!' " Song added.

Read the original article on People