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Topics: Celebs, Entertainment
Marissa Dow
It’s hard to forget that being a child star ain’t easy (actually, being a child isn’t easy full stop), but that doesn’t mean some of the most talented kiddie actors can’t have a happy ending as an adult. Prime example? Drew Barrymore, who is legit so happy that she dances in the rain for fun. Another example? Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song, who have been together for eight years now.
If all Mac ever contributed to Hollywood’s HOF was one God-tier Christmas movie, that would be enough. In reality, after Home Alone, the little icon was pushing out dramatic banger after banger since the 90s. Brenda, AKA London Tipton, is the original Disney Channel brat for her slay on The Suite Life and has remained a sitcom staple with comedies like Dollface.
But how did this dynamic duo find each other? Let’s take a look at Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song’s relationship timeline to find out.
Image Credit: Getty Imagesbrenda macaulay
Macaulay and Brenda were first introduced in 2014 at the house of their mutual friend, Seth Green. Apparently, Macaulay was trying to be a little jokester about the fact that Brenda and Seth’s sitcom Dads had just been canceled and Brenda “was not having it” to put it lightly. To put it heavily, “she was thoroughly unimpressed” with her future fiancé, Macaulay told Cosmopolitan on their January 27 spread.
Image Credit: Getty Imagesmacaulay culkin brenda song
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In 2017, Seth Green brought Brenda and Mac back together again for his film Changeland, and the love bug struck this time in Thailand. Even Seth, the director of the film, said he “didn’t see that one coming,” considering how the couple’s first meeting went. Both Brenda and Macaulay admitted to Cosmo that things started as a “fling” including late nights on set playing gin rummy.
But after Brenda started reading Macaulay’s journals that he shared with her, and they realized they both wanted to name their first child Dakota, the signs were showing this could be something real. They continued dating without labels for a long time even though both could tell they were ~falling in love~.
Image Credit: Getty Imagesbrenda macaulay
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The first paparazzi pics of the pair hit the internet in October 2017. Naturally, Macaulay and Brenda were spotted on a double date with their professional matchmaker Seth Green and his wife Clare at LA fall favorite, Knott’s Scary Farm. The date night was described by fans to E! as “affectionate.” That fall the cameras caught plenty of cute moments, like when the couple spent Thanksgiving lollygagging around Paris and hanging out with Paris, as in Paris Jackson, Macaulay’s goddaughter. Macaulay would become the first partner Brenda brought home to her family, according to her reminiscing in Cosmo.
Yes, she first recorded an episode of Macaulay’s podcast Bunny Ears with another guest, Matt Bennet, on April 18, 2018. The episode is about “childhood firsts.”
Image Credit: Getty Imagesbrenda macaulay
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Macaulay later returned the favor by appearing as a guest star on Brenda’s show Dollface on November 15, 2019, titled “History Buff.”
Image Credit: Getty Imagesmacaulay culkin brenda song dakota
Brenda and Macaulay welcomed their first child, a boy, on April 5, 2021. Dakota is currently three years old. The parents had been working on getting pregnant since February 2020, as Macaulay shared in a profile with Esquire. After giving birth, Brenda went back to work on Dollface season 2 within just three months which she described as “harder than [she] thought.”
They confirmed their engagement to People in January 2022 after Brenda was seen about town with a brand new diamond on her ring finger earlier that month.
Not yet! But the happy couple is working on finding a wedding planner in 2025 to help navigate their busy schedules and make sure their families can enjoy the big celebration.