9 Surprising Secrets You Never Knew About Home Alone!

Home Alone, the iconic holiday film from 1990, directed by Chris Columbus and penned by John Hughes, continues to entertain both children and adults every festive season with its flawless combination of touching scenes and physical comedy. Featuring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a young boy inadvertently left behind while his family vacations and who must then protect his home from two thieves, it surely was a fundamental part of my upbringing and likely yours as well.

Despite the numerous times we’ve watched and rewatched it, there are countless behind-the-scenes anecdotes and trivia that contribute another dimension of wonder to the movie — stories that I believe many might not be aware of. Below, I’ve gathered a few of these nuggets about the cherished film.

Home Alone was crafted in slightly over a week. Hughes, the mind behind timeless films like The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, completed the initial script for Home Alone in just nine days. The concept originated from his father’s fear of flying. “I was going on vacation and making a checklist of everything I didn’t want to forget,” Hughes divulged to Time magazine in 1990.

“I thought, ‘Well, I’d better not forget my kids.’ Then I contemplated, ‘What if I left my 10-year-old son at home? What would he do?’”

Most of John Candy’s role was unplanned. The late comedic talent appears in Home Alone as part of a polka band that provides a ride home for Kevin’s mother, portrayed by Catherine O’Hara. Candy “was on the film for merely one day, but it resulted in a wealth of outstanding improvisation,” Columbus shared with Business Insider in 2020. “None of that material was in the script. The funeral parlour tale, that was all improvised at 4:30 in the morning. We could scarcely maintain our composure on set just listening to John.”

Speaking of John Candy, he received a meager paycheck for his performance. John Candy was one of the most cherished comedic actors of the 1980s, yet he earned a tiny sum for his scenes in Home Alone — which he filmed during a single exhausting 23-hour day on set.

Reportedly, he was only involved as a favour to Hughes, and he accepted the minimum pay rate offered by the studio. This meant he actually earned less than the actor who portrayed the Little Nero’s pizza delivery man.

The Rotten Tomatoes critics’ rating might upset you. More than three decades after its premiere, the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score stands at a ridiculous 66%, based on 116 evaluations, which is an insult to the cherished holiday classic. Forget that the film shaped holiday nostalgia for a generation and remains endlessly rewatchable. Critics will persist in doing their thing and overlook the everlasting charm and heart.

A larger actor was considered for the character of Harry, the thief. Joe Pesci delivered perhaps the most adored performance of his career as Harry, one half of the “Wet Bandits” in Home Alone. However, before he accepted the role, the production team actually had their sights set on Robert De Niro — who reportedly never genuinely contemplated joining, but still. A captivating what if.

One of Culkin’s most unforgettable moments was improvised. One of the most iconic sequences in Home Alone is the scream, when Kevin is grooming in the bathroom and singing along to music. At one point, he applies aftershave and then delivers that comical scream. Culkin, however, didn’t execute it as the director requested. “If you apply something to your face that burns, most people instinctively move their hands away,” Columbus informed Business Insider.

“So my instruction to him was that when you pat your face, move your hands and shout. And I think it was the initial take, he kept his hands on his cheeks.”

There’s some blink-and-you’ll-miss-it animation in the film. When it came to special effects, Home Alone’s crew had to be inventive here and there — such as during the scene where Marv sticks his head through a pet door, and Kevin shoots him with a BB gun. According to Columbus, the production team hired an artist to paint that BB entering Marv’s head for six frames of the movie.

The black-and-white film Kevin watches isn’t authentic. Most individuals probably know this by now, but considering that Home Alone is continually viewed by new and younger audiences, it’s worth reiterating: Angels with Filthy Souls, the gangster film Kevin watches while home alone, isn’t an actual movie. The production team did an outstanding job creating the illusion of a genuine cinematic classic, which is why so many individuals throughout the years have been taken aback to discover it’s fictitious.

Home Alone’s director went on to helm a Netflix holiday film. Columbus has directed some genuinely legendary movies over the years, spanning from Mrs. Doubtfire to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In 2020, exactly 30 years after the debut of Home Alone, he returned to the realm of festive films by directing The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two, featuring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, for Netflix.