Macaulay Culkin’s Boozy Lesson

Mandy Moore is revisiting the offscreen memories that came with making Saved!, including a mischievous moment with Macaulay Culkin.

During the Wednesday, May 27 episode of Evan Ross Katz’s Netflix show Shut Up, Evan, Moore, 42, recalled drinking alcohol with Culkin, 45, while filming the 2004 teen satire in British Columbia, Canada. Moore was 18 at the time, while the province’s legal drinking age is 19.

“I do remember a little bit of underage drinking,” Moore said. “As it happened, I was like, ‘Look, I didn’t go to high school.’ I was 18.”

Culkin, older than several of the film’s young cast members, was legally able to drink. Moore said he introduced the group to White Russians, though she described the cast’s overall behavior as more playful than scandalous, recalling harmless pranks such as throwing giant marshmallows from a balcony.

Directed by Brian Dannelly and written by Dannelly and Michael Urban, Saved! starred Moore as Hilary Faye, the intense best friend of Mary, played by Jena Malone. The film followed Mary as she tried to “save” her boyfriend from being gay, only to become pregnant.

Moore said the role felt like a deliberate departure from her public image and helped her show a sharper, more satirical side as an actress. The ensemble also included Eva Amurri, Patrick Fugit, Heather Matarazzo and Mary-Louise Parker.

In June 2024, Moore told People that filming felt like a summer-camp experience, with the cast staying at the same hotel, gathering in one another’s rooms, ordering food and spending much of their downtime together.

Two decades later, Moore’s memories of Saved! remain tied to its irreverent story, close-knit young cast and the sense that they were making something unusually specific.