A real house that had a real family living there during the filming of Home Alone
A woman who grew up in the real life Home Alone house during the creation of the 1990 Christmas classic movie has revealed what it was really like at the time of filming.
For many, it is the greatest festive film ever made and embodies everything about the festive spirit (paint cans and irons to the face aside, maybe). And the warm fuzzy feeling that the film gives many is personified in the house at the centre of filming.
Home Alone follows Macaulay Culkin, who plays eight-year-old Kevin McCallister as he defends their family home in suburban Chicago from the Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern).
Why Kevin was left behind in Home Alone
Credit: 20th Century Studios
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It sees Kevin turn their huge, idyllic home into a boobytrapped jungle of painful goings on for the hapless criminal duo.
And the home is a very real property worth £4 million just outside of Chicago, Illinois.
Currently in the process of being sold for millions of dollars, it has had a huge makeover since its 1990 days.
But go back 34 years and you had an actual family living in the property. Among those living there, in the wealthy neighbourhood of Winnetka, was Lauren Abendshien.
Lauren Abendshien, whose parents owned the famous McCallister house when the movie was filmed (ITV)
Now 40 years old, she was six at the time of the film being made.
Recalling what life at the house was like during the months of filming that took place there, she told ITV’s This Morning that they actively lived in the house while filming was happening.
She said: “We stayed in the house pretty much the entire period, which was about four or five months.
“In order to avoid appearing onscreen, we would have to crawl around the window line from room to room.”
The Home Alone house in the film (20th Century Fox)
The house regularly hosted crew and cast during downtime, too, with Macaulay Culkin and younger brother Kieran spending a lot of time indoors.
Abendshein said: “They would spend time in the house when they weren’t filming their scenes.
“Macaulay Culkin used my room to study with his tutor and his brother [Kieran], wasn’t filming as much, so he would just hang out in my room.”
On the success of the film, the Abendshien family said it was ‘something special’ but that they couldn’t have imagined just how big it has become.
The Home Alone house (20th Century Fox)
“It was very surreal when the movie came out and all of a sudden it’s holiday season in 1990 and it was an endless row of cars and people wanted to see the house and take photographs and that was very new to us, but we grew to love it and we shared the magic of the movie,” she said.
While external shots of the house were the real deal, a lot of the internal shots were actually from somewhere two miles down the road.
The film’s indoor scenes were shot at New Trier Township High School, an abandoned property that was big enough for the production to create the appropriate sets and a sound stage, with director Chris Columbus unable to do the stunts inside the house due to the space needed for the film crew.Featured Image Credit: ITV / 20th Century Fox
Topics: Home Alone, Film, Christmas, US News, Macaulay Culkin, Home, Property, Nostalgia
Tom Earnshaw
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Updated 12:59 20 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 12:56 20 Dec 2024 GMT
Macaulay Culkin almost bought the Home Alone house and had a unique plan for the property
The iconic Christmas house almost became the real home of a grown-up Kevin McCallister
Macaulay Culkin has revealed he considered buying the iconic McCallister house from Home Alone with his eyes set on one thing if the purchase were to ever go through.
Culkin is best known for starring as Kevin McCallister in the 1990 classic Christmas film, Home Alone.
Making more than $476 million at the box office, it was a smash hit worldwide as Kevin went head to head with two hapless criminals, Harry and Marv (Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci) looking to steal everything of value from their Chicago home.
This was, of course, after Kevin’s parents Peter and Kate (John Heard and Catherine O’Hara) forgot to take the little lad with them to Paris, where the wider McCallister family was set to celebrate Christmas.
Why Kevin was left behind in Home Alone
Credit: 20th Century Studios
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Following on from the financial and cultural success of Home Alone, the band got back together in 1992 for Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.
In the sequel, Harry and Marv happen to run into Kevin in the Big Apple after he accidentally boards the wrong plane with his family headed to Miami, Florida (what are the chances, eh?).
Now 44, Culkin has revealed he considered buying the actual McCallister home; which is in the affluent Chicago neighbourhood of Winnetka, Illinois.
Macaulay Culkin still loves talking about Home Alone (Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
During December, the father-of-two has been touring the United States to do Q&As at local screenings of Home Alone.
The events have been sold out, with phones and video strictly banned during the question and answering sessions.
But according to the New York Times, while at a screening in Chicago’s Rosemont Theatre Culkin said he had ‘half a mind to buy’ the house.
The real life Home Alone house (Redfin)
Speaking during the Q&A, Culkin said the purchase would have been ‘just for giggles’ with the audience cheering in appreciation for such an act.
And that’s because he said he would not actually move into the house should he ever make an offer that is accepted.
Instead, the 44-year-old said he would turn the property into a ‘movie fun house’ where ordinary folk could sled down the staircase just as he did in the iconic film.
Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone (20th Century Studios)
Will it happen, though? It doesn’t look likely.
“I got kids. I’m busy, man,” he said, with his children still very young having been born in 2021 and 2022.
Culkin’s theatre run finished on 15 December.
He’s not been the only McCallister sibling keeping busy this Christmas, with five of his on-screen siblings reuniting this month in a move that definitely left us all feeling a lot older.Featured Image Credit: Ron Galella, Ltd. / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images / 20th Century Fox
Topics: Celebrity, Film, Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin, Property, US News
Tom Earnshaw
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Published 15:16 20 Dec 2024 GMT
Home Alone actor who earned millions from special contract reveals the worst injury he got filming the movies
Daniel Stern starred as Marv Murchins in the first two Home Alone films
One of the main actors from the Home Alone films who made millions via his special contract has revealed the one stunt that left him ‘purple’ due to the injuries he suffered while being pranked by Kevin McCallister.
Both Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York follow Kevin McCallister as he takes on the terrible career criminals known as the Wet Bandits.
The Wet Bandits, made up of Harry Lyme (Joe Pesci) and Marv Murchins (Daniel Stern), take on the young Chicago boy twice during Christmastime after first trying to steal from the McCallister family home and then attempting to ransack a toy store in New York City.
How Kevin got left behind in Home Alone
20th Century Fox
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On both occasions, Kevin – played by the superbly talented Macaulay Culkin – is left alone at Christmas and has to fend for himself, doing his utmost best to get one over both of the Wet Bandits and stop them in their tracks.
A major way in which he does that is through is traps; first in his family home in Home Alone followed by his uncle’s NYC townhouse in Home Alone 2.
And jeez, they don’t half look like they hurt. The question is, which hurt the most?
Marv actor Daniel Stern revealed exactly this during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) in which he took questions from film fans asking about his career.
Standing on glass baubles after taking an iron to the face were just two of the prank Marv was subjected to by Kevin (20th Century Fox)
Stern revealed earlier this year that he earned millions extra in royalties for Home Alone 2 after inserting a special clause into his contract for the film.
On the pranks set out by Kevin, one Redditor asked Stern: “Hey, thanks for coming to Reddit. Enjoy your stay.
“Something that has always puzzled me. Did you ever get an injury from home alone? If so how bad was it?”
Responding, Stern revealed it wasn’t the paint-pot pendulums of Home Alone that were the worst. Nor was it the electrocution scene in Home Alone 2, which is no surprise the fact they didn’t actually electrocute him.
The falling iron down the ventilation shaft in Home Alone also wasn’t the McCallister prank that sprung to mind.
Marv and Harry were taught a lesson by Kevin (20th Century Fox)
Instead, one particular scene from Home Alone 2 left him black and blue in real life. So much for stunt doubles and special effects.
“So happy to be on Reddit,” Stern responded.
“My daughter Sophie has been on for years telling me I have to join the conversation.
“Now about your question… oddly, the most bruising stunt I did was in Home Alone 2. There’s a scene where I have to climb a tower of old TV sets, bookcases, and other seemingly simple bits of debris.”
The scene that left Stern black and blue (20th Century Fox)
Stern added: “But it turned out to be a lot more complicated than I imagined. I must’ve hit every corner of every chair and table, take after take.
“When I was getting out of my costume at the end of the day I noticed a lot of bruising on my legs. And three days later, both legs were purple to toes to ‘you know where’.”
The scene in question is after Marv falls face-first into an empty townhouse that Kevin has boobytrapped, leaving him struggling to get out of the basement and take on the child alongside Harry.https://embed.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3y4d8l/im_daniel_stern_you_might_know_me_as_marv_from/?embed=true&ref_source=embed&ref=share&utm_medium=widgets&utm_source=embedv2&utm_term=23&utm_name=post_embed&embed_host_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ladbible.com%2Fnews%2Fus-news%2Fhome-alone-house-chicago-owner-woman-146414-20241223
Given that Stern earned an extra $3.59 million for Home Alone 2 after agreeing to receive one percent of box office takings in his contract for the film, he was definitely made to earn that extra dough.Featured Image Credit: 20th Century Fox
Topics: Celebrity, Christmas, Health, Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin, Reddit
Tom Earnshaw
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Updated 17:21 17 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 17:14 17 Dec 2024 GMT
Why Hollywood legend was paid just £325 to star in Home Alone
A film that made $476 million at the box office only paid one of its biggest names a few hundred dollars
One of the biggest names to star in Home Alone was only paid a few hundred pounds, despite the movie’s $18 million budget and $476 million box office performance.
Released back in 1990, the Christmas flick stars Macaulay Culkin in the iconic role of Kevin McCallister, who is tasked with defending his home from two rather rubbish thieves looking to steal his family’s belongings while they’re away in Paris.
Kevin is accidentally left behind while his family jets off to Europe from Chicago, much to the horror of his mother Kate (Catherine O’Hara) and the annoyance of thieves Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern).
Home Alone trailer
Credit: 20th Century Fox
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Directed by Chris Columbus, what comes next is more than 90 minutes of pranks and tomfoolery as Kevin does his best to secure the McCallister mansion from the Wet Bandits.
Away from the goings on in the Chicago suburb where the McCallisters’ call home, Kevin’s mum Kate flies back to the US on the next available flight.
She ends up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she is told there are zero flights with seats to Chicago.
Out of the blue comes Kate’s very own Father Christmas, granting her one wish of getting back to Chicago and to Kevin.
O’Hara and Candy in one of their iconic scenes (20th Century Fox)
In the airport, she meets Gus Polinski, the lead member of a traveling polka band which is on its way to Milwaukee.
Polinksi, played by Hollywood legend John Candy, offers Kate a spot in the back of their crowded and less than luxurious moving van – something she greatly receives.
While not the main man, Candy’s supporting role in Home Alone is still substantial. Despite this, and despite his career to date, he was only paid $414 (£325) for his appearance in Home Alone.
Prior to Home Alone, Candy – who is probably best known for 1993’s Cool Runnings – appeared in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Armed and Dangerous, Spaceballs, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
The travelling polka band helping Kevin’s mum out (20th Century Fox)
The definition of a household name for many, especially those residing in the US.
Candy’s time on set lasted for just one day. But why the small fee?
Well, it was basically a favour to a friend.
“He was on the movie for only one day, but it resulted in so much great improvisation,” Chris Columbus said in a previous interview. “None of that stuff was in the script.
Candy was paid pennies in comparison to some (20th Century Fox)
“The funeral parlour story – that was all improvised at 4.30 in the morning. We could barely keep a straight face on set just listening to John.”
Columbus said there was a ‘little resentment’ from Candy but that the pay was ‘was a deal between him and [writer and producer] John Hughes at the time’.
“We did a movie together after that, Only the Lonely, and there were a couple times on set when he would make a cutting remark about Fox and what he was paid,” Columbus said.Featured Image Credit: 20th Century Fox
Topics: Home Alone, Film, Christmas, Money, Celebrity, Entertainment, Macaulay Culkin
Tom Earnshaw
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Updated 14:12 15 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 12:44 12 Dec 2024 GMT
Fans notice blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in Home Alone decades later which reveals why Kevin was left behind
It’s a tiny but important moment
For years people watching Home Alone have asked the same question: “Wait, how on earth do they leave a whole child behind when they leave for the airport?!”
Fans of the 1990 festive classic have been wondering why for years and now, whether it’s because of the advent of the internet revealing what people maybe have already known or just because streaming allows us to interrogate more closely, it’s been revealed why.
Two separate hidden details found in the film have revealed the reason why Kevin McAllister, played by Macaulay Culkin, is left behind.
Macaulay Culkin as Kevin in Home Alone (20th Century Studios)
Both were noticed in the subreddit for r/moviedetails, which is a hotbed for people infinitely more perceptive than me noticing secret little bits in films.
Personally, I just always thought it was the family’s complete incompetence and a lack of care about Kevin that led to it, but the two posts have pointed out two moments that contributed to him being left behind.
The first explains what happened to Kevin’s plane ticket in the film.
The post was titled: “Ever wonder what happened to Kevin’s plane ticket in Home Alone?” and the video shows how, after the fight in which Kevin and Buzz knock over drinks over passports, Kevin’s dad Peter picks up all the paper towels that have been soaked and throws them in the bin. Take a look:
Why Kevin was left behind in Home Alone
Credit: 20th Century Studios
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Yes, in the process, Peter picks up a plane ticket labelled ‘Kevin’ and throws it in the bin.
The blink and you’ll miss it moment shows why, when looking through all the tickets for a final check as they leave for the airport, they don’t notice they don’t have Kevins.
Secondly, another post says: “In Home Alone (1990) when they counted the people for the trip they say there’s 17 people in total. An odd number between two vans means they will be split 8/9.
“Since Kevin was missing both vans had 8 people instead, making each group assume they were on the 8-people van, not suspecting a thing.”
Fans were shocked at the realisation which seems to have unlocked one of the film’s core questions decades.
The kids in Home Alone being counted (20th Century Studios)
One comment on the first post pointed out another detail that contributes, saying: “This along with the power going out which explains why their alarms didn’t go off are nice, small details I never noticed until some 20 years later.”
A comment on the second read: “This is a fun detail just because the writer (John Hughes) was extremely worried about having a bulletproof plot to answer ALL questions of but how did they forget Kevin? with reasonable explanations.
Just fun that he covered tracks I haven’t even picked up on”.
And another said: “I like that people are arguing over this. The point was that the mistake was believable. The other details don’t change this fact.”