Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.It's been 35 years since the audacious 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) charmed the big screen in Home Alone with his mischievous smirks and elaborate traps set to defend his home from two thieves (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) after his family accidentally left him behind during Christmas.
Culkin,who now has two sons of his own, and director Chris Columbus sat down for a Q&A at theAcademy Museum of Motion Picturesin Los Angeles on Saturday to discuss their experiences behind the scenes of the movie franchise.
The first film had a relatively modest budget of around $18 million. But Warner Bros. dropped the film "about two weeks" before they were supposed to start shooting due to budget concerns, Columbus recalled.
But 20th Century Fox decided to pick up the film, which ultimately became a massive box office success,grossing over $476 million worldwidein 1990.
"Somebody got fired," Culkin quipped, drawing laughter from the audience.
These are some of the more notable revelations from their conversation forHome Alonefans to enjoy.
How did Culkin, Pesci and Stern get selected for their roles inHome Alone?
Culkin, then 9, had just appeared as little Miles Russell in the 1989 filmUncle Buck, which was written and directed by John Hughes, who also wrote all theHome Alonemovies.
"I think John wroteHome Alonefor Mac … and I think it's no surprise that John wanted Mac to doHome Alone," Columbus said. "But I had a directorial responsibility; I did not want to get fired, and I thought, 'I need to see other kids,' so I saw about 300 other kids before we met, and no one was great." Columbus said when he did meet Culkin, "he was amazing, and I thought, 'He's in the movie.'"
When it came to filling the roles of the two thieves (aka the Wet Bandits), it was always Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, but "we couldn't afford both of them," Columbus said. Pesci was signed on, but when another actor was cast, there was no chemistry during the screen test, and their scenes weren't funny, the director recalled. Columbus then spoke to Joe Roth, who was then the head of 20th Century Fox, and ended up getting the green light for Stern in the role. "The first wardrobe test we did with the two guys — they were amazing."
Were the house traps real?
In the firstHome Alone, there's a scene where Stern's character is trying to break into Kevin's house and is climbing up tar-covered basement stairs, and he appears to step on a nail barefoot. "All I know is that the nail descended into the stairs," Columbus said.
There's another scene when Pesci's character is trying to break in through the kitchen, and a trap is set up so a blowtorch appears to burn the top of the character's head.
"The blowtorch is actually real," Columbus said. "And Joe Pesci had to wear a cap, and when we offered it to Joe, he said, 'There's no way I'm wearing that f***ing thing.'"
Columbus said Pesci refused to put it on. "Mark Radcliffe, who was our producer, brought out his 9-year-old daughter, put the cap on her and we put the torch on her to actually show Joe Pesci, 'you're gonna be OK, Joe.'"
"You gonna let the 9-year-old girl show you up?" Culkin mused.
Columbus said Pesci eventually agreed to wear it for the movie.
What about the pet tarantula?
Culkin recalled that in order to get the tarantula to move on set, little pumps of air would be blown at it, similar to a bike pump or a device used to clean a keyboard.
"They never asked me to hold it," Culkin said. "One of the grip's kids had a tarantula, so that's his hand doing it," the actor said, referring to the scene when Kevin grabs the tarantula from the attic stairs to put on Stern's face.
"Dan could not scream because the tarantula would then bite and get upset," Columbus recalled. "We had no money, so we put the real tarantula on his face, and he pretended to scream."
Culkin added that Stern's iconic shriek was added in post-production.
Will there be anotherHome Alonemovie?
A 10-year-old audience member asked whether there would be anotherHome Alonemovie with an adult Kevin.
"Obviously, the only way to do aHome Alonesequel — you need Mac, and you need Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern," Columbus said.
"Joe Pesci is 82; I'm pretty sure he'd still take a fall, right?" Culkin joked.
Columbus offered his take on how anotherHome Alonemovie could work, saying, "I always thought those two guys had been in prison for 30 years and are pretty pissed off at you, so I see it as some sort of revenge movie."
"I think I could take them, though," Culkin said.
Culkin chimed in with his own idea for a sequel. "I like the idea that maybe Kevin's older, that he's like a widower or something like that. He's raising his kid and they don't really get along; he's working all the time. … It's almost like aLiar, Liarkind of thing," the actor suggested. "There's one of two ways you can do it. One, he actually leaves the kid behind by mistake; he calls up his mom like, 'I'm so sorry, I get it now.' Or I leave him behind on purpose like, 'Oh, that made me the man I am today,'" which prompted laughter from the audience.
Culkin added, "Then he locks me out of the house, and he's setting up traps and things like that. And I think I see them coming because, you know, I'm the expert. It also explains why I don't call the police or locksmith because I'm embarrassed my kid is beating me and this is my gig. And I think the house would be kind of a metaphor for getting back into the kid's heart kind of thing."
