But given their surprise news on March 30, the two 17-year-old classmates at Manhattan's Professional Children's School, who've been dating for a year, had grown-up things on their minds. "We're so happy and proud that we found each other," said Culkin in a statement announcing his betrothal to Miner, costar of Broadway's The Diary of Anne Frank. "We look forward to spending our lives together."
To marry, New York law requires that the two minors get permission from their parents. Mac's future inlaws should be no problem. "We are very happy for them," says Diane Miner, whose husband, Peter, is an acting coach and veteran TV director. But Christopher "Kit" Culkin, estranged from his son since he and common-law wife Patricia Bentrup launched a custody battle over their seven kids in '95, sounded less enthusiastic. "At 17 it's always a mistake [to get married]," he told the New York Post, "but Mac's a bright, smart kid. I wish him well."
Though the engagement seemed wildly premature, few doubt their sincerity. "[Mac]'s finally entered a phase where there is happiness," says a friend. Adds Anne Frank actor Austin Pendleton: "They're obviously young, but they seem very mature." Miner, whose home life is as stable as Mac's is volatile, may even help her fiancé, last seen in '94's Richie Rich, get back on track professionally. Says actress Maureen Garrett of Guiding Light, on which Miner appeared from 1990 until 1995: "She's a serious girl"—who also understands the pressures of early fame. "No one else can know what it's like," says Garrett, "unless they've been through it."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
