Macaulay Culkin has praised the late John Candy for noticing his "monster" father's behaviour before anyone else.

The former child star had a notoriously difficult relationship with his dad, Kit Culkin, who was also his manager in the early days of his career, and he'll always be grateful for how much "care" and concern his Uncle Buck co-star - who died in 1994 aged 43 - showed for him on the set of the 1989 comedy.

Speaking in new documentary John Candy: I Like Me - which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday (04.09.25) - Entertainment Weekly reports Macaulay, now 45, said: "I think he always had that really great instinct. I think he saw. Listen, even before the wave crested and the Home Alone stuff was happening, it was not hard to see how difficult my father was. It was no secret. He was already a monster.

"All of a sudden, the fame and the money came, and he became an infamous monster. He was already not a good guy. I think John was looking a little side-eyed, like, 'Is everything alright over there? You doing good? Good day? Everything's alright? Everything good at home? Alright.' "

The Home Alone star praised John's "paternal" instinct and described his attude as "a testament to the kind of man he was," because he "was just looking out for" him on set.

He added: "It doesn't happen that often. It actually happened less as time went on.

"I wish I got more of that in my life. It's important that I remember that. I remember John caring when not a lot of people did."

Macaulay admitted Uncle Buck was one of his "favourite" movies to work on because of John.

He said: "I think that's why that's one of my favorite performances, because I think he put a lot of himself into it."

He noted that a lot of older actors "don't know how or don't like to work with kids" because they're "tricky to work with," but "John was always really kind, and really good with" both himself and Gaby Hoffman, who played his on-screen sister.

He added: "He showed a lot of respect. When you're eight years old, you don't really get respect, whether it's in a workplace or just from adults and grown-ups in general. You felt invited in."

Earlier this year, Macaulay insisted his father - who he hasn't spoken to for around 30 years - "deserves" to be estranged from all his children and grandchildren.

Explaining he hasn't spoken to his dad in decades, he told Sibling Revelry podcast hosts Kate and Oliver Hudson: "Oh, he deserves it too. Yeah. He's a man who, he had seven kids, and now he has four grandkids. Yeah. And, none of them want anything to do with him."

Macaulay - who has sons Dakota, four, and two-year-old Carson with fiancee Brenda Song - went on to insist he'd think he had done something wrong if he was in a similar position but added: "I have more than an inkling that he does not feel that way."

The My Girl star branded his dad "narcissistic" and "abusive" and was willing to risk arrest when a judge said he "had to do visits" with his dad amid Kit's custody battle with his mother Patricia Brentrup.

He said: "I wanted nothing to do with my f****** father. Like, he was just the worst.

"I told my lawyer, I said, 'Yeah, I'm not doing that.' He said, 'Well, you know, you'll be in contempt of court and this and that.' I go, 'Okay. Well, how about this? I dare the judge to put me in jail for not wanting to visit [my] abusive father. I actually I'm gonna double down on that. I double dare him to arrest the most famous kid in the world."