Macaulay Culkin is "technically" retired from acting

He told the SmartLess podcast: "Technically, I'm retired right now.

"I retire and then, if I find something I like, I unretire, do that, and I immediately retire afterwards. Every gig is my last."

The 45-year-old actor did actually go on almost a decade long hiatus after 1994's Richie Rich, when he was 14 years old.

He explained: "I quit for nearly a decade. Just went to high school, fell in love, got drunk for the first time, things like that."

Culkin noted that unlike many other child stars, he received the "lion's share" of money from his early projects, which afford him an opportunity to do whatever he wanted.

He added: "I was in a position where I could just put my thumb up my butt and play video games all day long. You know? I could do anything I wanted, really."

After growing up "always working with adults" rather than people his own age, he found himself "yearning to go to school" and "to have contemporaries", which inspired his long break from acting.

He said: "I was doneskies. I was like, 'I hope you all made your money because there's no more coming from me'.

"I made my name. I made my mark. I made my fortune. The only reason why I even do it now is because I like to do it.

"Pay, pleasure, prestige - that's the only reason to do a gig."

Culkin - who returned to acting in 2003 film Party Monster and an episode of Will and Grace the same year - insisted he didn't find another calling during his break from Hollywood.

He explained: "I was kind of just drifting around, and tried to figure out what I wanted out of life and so forth.

"This was a calling that found me. I didn't find it. I wanted to explore that in a different way, on my terms."