Kieran Culkin has shared how difficult it has been to cope with the loss of his sister Dakota, even 15 years after she passed away.
The 42-year-old Succession actor, who had a brief role alongside his older brother Macaulay Culkin, now 44, in Home Alone, grew up as part of a large family. His siblings included Shane, Dakota, Quinn, Christian, and Rory.
While Dakota was not in front of the camera, she worked behind the scenes in art production and contributed to projects like the supernatural thriller Lost Soul.
Sadly, in 2008, Dakota died at the age of 29 after being hit by a car while crossing a street in California, US.
“She was taken to UCLA hospital with massive head trauma and passed away on Dec. 10th at 12:45 PM,” the LAPD stated at the time.
“The driver stopped, rendered aid, and identified himself as required by law. Detectives have determined that the driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, so no crime was committed.”
During an interview with CBS, Kieran opened up about how lost and disconnected he felt after Dakota’s death.
“I only knew who I was because of who my siblings are,” he shared.
“So, to lose one was losing a big piece of myself.”
“Losing one of my favourite people in the world, it doesn’t get better.”
“It doesn’t get easier, but you get used to it.”
Besides finding his own success with Succession, Kieran mentioned that parts of his character Roman Roy’s humor reminded him of his late sister’s sense of humor.
“After a couple seasons, I realised there was some stuff that Roman did that I was like, ‘Oh, that’s my sister, that was her sense of humour’,” he said.
“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.”
Kieran talked about how he would step into the role of the older brother at home, explaining: “Whenever the door would open to let the kids in, I used to stand aside and count to make sure all six of them got in before I got in.”
“That’s how I remember growing up, too. I couldn’t fall asleep until they all fell asleep. I only existed because they did around me.”
Andrea Poe, a friend of Dakota, told PEOPLE that Dakota had recently relocated to Los Angeles from New York to pursue her career in film production.
“She was very low-key [about her name], but at the same time proud of her siblings,” Poe shared.
“She was very close to Macaulay. They would talk frequently on the phone or go out to eat.”
When Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song welcomed their first child in 2021, they chose to name him Dakota in honor of his late aunt.
