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“Alone in the house” is a holiday classic that has left viewers with many questions over the years.
During a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter “Chatter about awards” podcast, the film’s director, Chris Columbus, answered one of the Internet’s burning questions: What did the McCallister parents do for a living?
In the film, not only does the family live in a mansion in Chicago, but the parents, played by Catherine O’Hara and John Heard, are able to pay for a trip to Paris for 15 people, including their immediate and extended family members. Many movie fans have wondered, since the release of the movie in 1990, how the couple could afford it all.
“Then John and I talked about it and decided what the jobs were,” Columbus said. “We thought that the mother, at the time, because we used dolls in the basement – I remember us talking – was a very successful fashion designer. The father could, based on John Hughes’ own experience, work in advertising, but I don’t remember what father did”.
For years, many “Home Alone” fans have wondered how the family could afford their house and a trip to Paris for 15 people. (Sarah Crowley)
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Columbus also dismissed the popular belief that Dad was involved in organized crime, explaining that “although there was a lot of organized crime in Chicago at the time,” Dad was definitely not involved.
The film focuses on a large family that goes on vacation to Paris, only to realize that they have left their youngest son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) behind. Kevin then has to come to terms with being left behind, while also defending his home from burglars, played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.
“We thought that the mother, at the time, because we used dolls in the basement – I remember us talking – was a very successful fashion designer.”
Although “Home Alone” became the movie child star Culkin is best known for, Columbus said he wasn’t sold on casting him for the lead role when he first applied for the project. In the end, he admitted that Culkin was “obviously a real kid,” but that he had to overcome his “ego” as a director to recognize that.
“That made John Hughes a great producer for a director, and I learned a lot from him,” Columbus explained. “He said, ‘Would you like to see the meeting with Macaulay?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’d like to meet Macaulay, but I’d like to meet everyone else, too.’ I ended up meeting 300 other kids, a total waste of time, because then I met Macaulay again, and it was magical.”
Macaulay Culkin became the ultimate child star of the 1990s. (Everett Collection)
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Culkin, of course, would become the ultimate child star of the 1990s, starring in the sequels, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, My Girl, Richie Rich, The Pagemaster, and many others.
When it came to casting the other characters, Columbus said he knew the moment he saw Pesci and Stern together on screen that they were the perfect duo. He also confirmed the rumors that he is a legendary comedian Chris Farley was also up for a role in the film.
“Farley was just starting out at the time,” Columbus said of inviting Farley to audition. “This guy came in at 7 in the morning for our first read for the guy who played Santa Claus in the movie. He wasn’t in particularly good shape. He just got out of an all-nighter in Chicago.”
Ultimately, Columbus said, “We had to say, ‘Well, not this time.'” He also said that later in life, he and Farley became good friends and would often discuss his audition for the film.
Chris Farley auditioned for a role in Home Alone. (Getty Images)
In the interview, Columbus also talked about how he came to direct the classic film, explaining that he was meant to direct another Christmas classic, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” but his interaction with star Chevy Chase led him to give it a shot.
“I’m asking him all these questions and he’s just been deadpan and disinterested and distracted,” Columbus said on the THR podcast. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is weird. For an actor who’s committed to this movie, he really doesn’t want to talk about it.'”
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He continued: “Then, 40 minutes into the conversation, he says the most surreal thing I’ve ever heard in a meeting, before or since. He said, ‘Wait a minute, you’re the director?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ And he said, ‘Oh, I thought you were a drummer.’ I don’t even know what the hell that meant.”
A second meeting with the actor didn’t help convince him, as Columbus said Chase ignored him during dinner and “was like I wasn’t even in the movie.” “Every time I mentioned the movie, he changed the subject,” he explained.
In the interview, Chris Columbus also talked about how he came to direct a classic film, explaining that he was supposed to direct another Christmas classic, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” starring Chevy Chase. (Warner Bros.)
Then Hughes gave him the opportunity to direct “Home Alone”. He also famously directed “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” “Gremlin” and “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
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