Macaulay Culkin has revealed he turned down lead role in The Big Bang Theory. Photo / Getty Images
Macaulay Culkin has revealed he turned down lead role in The Big Bang Theory. Photo / Getty Images
Richie Rich could have been Richie Richer.
Macaulay Culkin has revealed he turned down lead role in The Big Bang Theory — costing him "hundreds of millions of dollars."
The 37-year-old Home Alone star told Joe Rogan on his Experience podcast that he was relentlessly pursued for the part, but he refused because the pitch sounded rubbish.
"They pursued me for The Big Bang Theory," he revealed. "And I said, 'Noooo'.
"It was kind of like, the way the pitch was, 'Alright, these two astrophysicist nerds and a pretty girl lives with them. Yoinks!' That was the pitch.
"And I was like, 'Yeah, I'm cool; thanks.' And then they came back at me again, and I said, 'No, no, no; again, flattered--but no.' Then they came back at me again, and even my manager was like twisting my arm."
While he didn't specify which role, it was clearly one of the leads considering the amount of money the actor believes he lost out on, the Daily Mail reports.
While Culkin didn't specify which role, it was clearly one of the leads considering the amount of money the actor knows he lost out on. Photo / Supplied
"I'd have hundreds of millions of dollars right now if I did that gig," Culkin said.
But he added: "At the same time, I'd be bashing my head against the wall."
The hugely successful child star, believed to be worth around $15million was in a slew of hit films in the late 80s and early 90s, including Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Good Son and Home Alone 1 and 2.
But after a run of disappointing returns in The Nutcracker, getting even With Dad, The Pagemaster and Richie Rich, Culkin largely turned away from the big screen in 1994, appearing only in a handful of quirky projects since then, including his pizza-themed comedy rock band the Pizza Underground.
He told Rogen he currently lives "a life of leisure" with a property portfolio in the US and abroad.
The main cast of The Big Bang Theory meanwhile — Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg and Kaley Cuoco — are currently earning $900k per episode, at 24 episodes per season, as it heads into its 12th season in September.
