Mila Kunis Called Then-Boyfriend Macaulay Culkin the "Most Brilliant Person I've Ever Met"

Chris Polk/FilmMagic Macaulay Culkin, Mila Kunis

Who: Golden Globe-nominated actor Macaulay Culkin, 40, and Golden Globe-nominated actress Mila Kunis, 37.

How They Met: Culkin and Kunis, both child stars transitioning into the realm of adult actors, began dating at some point in the early aughts. Perhaps made wary by their experiences in the public eye, the couple kept their relationship incredibly private (despite constant media speculation).

As early as 2003, Culkin had to publicly clarify that he and Kunis were not engaged.

"We're not engaged. We're not getting married," Culkin told Barbara Walters at the time. "I have a very, very beautiful, very wonderful relationship with somebody. It's going very well … We try to keep our private lives private and our public lives separate … but it's a good thing."

Kunis joked about their phantom engagement in an interview with Parade in 2007.

"I've been engaged. I think I've already been married. And I'm sure I have a child somewhere. I'm waiting to have something else happen," she teased. "No, I'm not married. And no, I'm not engaged. And no, I do not have a child."

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In 2006, Culkin told New York Magazine that he met Kunis during a period (following his divorce from Rachel Miner) in which he'd "decided to be abstinent or asexual or whatever." Clearly, the universe had other plans.

Why We Loved Them: Mila Kunis and Macaulay Culkin — they're just like us! They play World of Warcraft and cook their own food.

"We're incredibly private, and I think we relish the privacy we do actually have and are able to sustain it," Kunis told Parade. "We enjoy each other's company. We like to read books or play video games or watch TV or go to the movies. And he's an amazing cook. He makes dinner every night."

Let's watch My Girl and you can make me spaghetti, Macaulay.

At 20-something, Kunis was settled. "I don't remember being single," she told Black Book in late 2009. "I love coming home, taking a bath and having a glass of wine. I love my life."

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

Kunis told Parade that Culkin was "probably the most brilliant person I've ever met," describing him as "so, so smart and so aware and so kind and so sweet."

When They Peaked: In August 2009, the Bad Moms star told Women's Health that she and her then-boyfriend, "grew up together."

"I don't know if I met him at 27 if it would have been a different relationship," she explained. "You find a steady rock in your life and that's all you need. We have our ups and downs, but work through them."

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The Breakup: Well there must have been a landslide, because Kunis and her "steady rock" announced their breakup in early 2011. "The split was amicable, and they remain close friends," Kunis's publicist told the New York Post.

A year later, Kunis assured Elle UK that the relationship had remained a positive experience in her eyes and even helped to shape her identity.

"Being settled so young really helped," she told the publication. "You know, I wouldn't take back anything in my life, not one thing. I think it all shaped me to be who I am today. There are things that people know about, and there are things that the press doesn't know about, and everything that did occur 100 per cent shaped who I am. My ex-boyfriend, my family, my friends, everybody."

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

While neither party has explained why the relationship ended, Kunis has provided some insight into the ordeal.

In 2016, the actress told Howard Stern that it was difficult to go out in public with the Home Alone star. "You couldn't walk down the street with him," she explained, noting that fans "just screamed when they saw him."

"They didn't know how to react," she continued. "It wasn't like a normal response to a celebrity. Fans responded in a very abnormal way to him."

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Later in the interview, Stern asked Kunis if she was actually in love with her ex, to which she replied, "Honestly, who knows? I just don't know."

Two years later, during an episode of Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, Kunis admitted that she "fucked up" when it came to her "horrible, horrible" breakup with Culkin.

"I was an asshole in my 20s and I'll be the first to admit it," she went on. "It's fucked up what I did and it's fucked up how I did it."

Harrison Funk/The Jackson Family via Getty Images

Soon after spilling the breakup tea, Kunis told Marc Maron that she and Culkin were "probably not as friendly as we could be."

"There are too many aspects of it that just prevented us from ever moving forward [from the] past," she added, vaguely.

Where They Are Now:

Culkin has been dating actress Brenda Song since 2017. Just this month it was announced that the couple had become first-time parents with the birth of their son, Dakota.

Next up for the actor is an arc in season 10 of American Horror Story, out later this year.

Though Kunis publicly wrote off rumors of a romantic relationship with her That '70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher as "absurd!" the couple began dating in 2012. Kutcher and Kunis welcomed daughter Wyatt in 2014, wed in 2015, and welcomed son Dimitri the following year.

The actress's latest film, Four Good Days opposite Glenn Close, opens on Friday.

#TBT: Check in every Thursday as we throw it back to some of our favorite celebrity couples of all time.