When Hollywood's most prestigious awards went to the most unexpected nominees
Kevin's horrified reaction to applying aftershave is one of the most iconic images of 'Home Alone,' but the hands-to-face scream was actually an accident. Director Chris Columbus told Insider that he had actually asked Macaulay Culkin to pull his hands away from his face as he screamed.
While watching Macaulay Culkin filming 1989's 'Uncle Buck,' writer and producer John Hughes was inspired to write a film based around the antics of a young boy.
There's a scene in 'Uncle Buck' in which Macaulay Culkin interrogates a babysitter through a mail slot. In 'Home Alone,' he interrogates Daniel Stern's character, Marv, through a doggie door.
Hughes had Culkin in mind while writing the part of Kevin, but that didn't stop director Chris Columbus from casting around. He auditioned around 200 kids for the role, but none could match Culkin's natural grasp of the character.
'Uncle Buck' star John Candy reportedly filmed his cameo in 'Home Alone' in just one 23-hour day on set. According to Insider, he made his appearance as a favor to Hughes, and earned the minimum studio pay rate for his efforts.
In a 2020 interview with Insider, Chris Columbus said that John Candy improvised some of his most hilarious lines, at 4:30am!
The highest-grossing film of 1990, 'Home Alone' held a box-office record for nearly 30 years. Forbes reported that its US$285.7 million gross domestic takings held the record for highest-grossing single-territory live-action movie for 27 years. Chinese blockbuster 'Never Say Die' broke the record in 2017.
Back in 1990, CGI wasn't commonplace on set, and budgets were tight. Chris Columbus told Insider that the BB gun pellet Kevin shoots Marv with was "an animated effect. A guy with a paintbrush in a basement for six frames hand-painted a BB."
In a 2018 interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Macaulay Culkin said he was unable to watch the film without recalling the behind-the-scenes moments on set.
Every Christmas Eve, millions of Polish families gather around the TV to watch 'Home Alone.' Attempts to remove it from the holiday schedule in 2010 were met with public protests.
The director has said he was "stunned" that Pesci took the role of hapless burglar Harry.
The production team had originally considered Robert De Niro for the role, before Pesci made the part his own.
The actor would reportedly hide from Culkin on set, in order to make the young actor feel afraid of him.
According to Mental Floss, Pesci accidentally bit Culkin during rehearsals for a scene in which Harry says he will bite all Kevin's fingers off.
Mental Floss also reports that Pesci, more used to gangster movies than family flicks, would drop the odd F-bomb on set. Chris Columbus apparently suggested he should say "fridge" instead.
Macaulay wasn't the only Culkin in the movie. In his debut role, younger brother Kieran crops up as Kevin's cousin, Fuller.
In a 2020 episode of 'The Late Late Show with James Corden,' Kieran Culkin told the host: "I didn't even know what the movie was about when we were doing it, so it was a fresh, brand-new movie when I saw it."
In a 2013 interview with The Guardian, the director revealed that the Culkin family's notoriously-troubled dynamic taught him a thing or two about casting.
"I was much younger and I was really too naïve to think about the family environment as well. We didn’t know that much about the family at the beginning; as we were shooting, we learned a little more. The stories are hair-raising. I was casting a kid who truly had a troubled family life."
According to Chicago magazine, Columbus was working on the 1989 movie 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation,' but had difficulties working with star Chevy Chase.
In the 2015 article, written by John Hughes' son James, Columbus said he received two scripts from Hughes around a fortnight later. "One was 'Home Alone,' with a note from John asking if I wanted to direct."
In the same article, James Hughes revealed that it took his father just nine days to write the screenplay for one of the biggest movies ever.
James Hughes said that his late father "jotted down in a notebook a movie idea, born of traveler's anxiety," amid the bustle of packing for a trip. He came back to the idea two weeks later, asking himself "What would happen if one of the kids had been left behind?"
As well as spawning a six-movie (and counting) franchise, 'Home Alone' led to video games, board games, and even a Lego replica of the 'Home Alone' house and its characters.
The artificial snow from the original 'Home Alone' movie was donated to the Lyric Opera of Chicago, which has used it in several productions.
According to NME, Macaulay Culkin received US$4.5 million for reprising his role of Kevin in the 1992 sequel, the largest amount ever to have been paid to a 12-year-old actor.
NME's 2017 article also reports that the original name for the follow-up was 'Alone Again,' but that Chris Columbus changed the name because he didn't want people to think it was a remake.
If the characters look cold in 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,' it's for real. It was apparently so cold during filming that some cameras froze on set!
Sources: (The Guardian) (NME) (Chicago Magazine) (Mental Floss) (Insider) (BBC) (Forbes) (ET)
See also: Child star one hit wonders