1990’s “Home Alone” is a must-have Christmas classic that sparks a warm glow in us all each year. But shooting the film had its share of challenges. For Catherine O’Hara, one of her biggest personal struggles came when she had to reprimand Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister in an early scene where the youngster is forced to sleep upstairs. According to the actress, she didn’t understand why her character was so evil at that time and claimed that chastising a young Culkin “killed” her.
After one of the most impressive comedic careers in cinema history, the legend that Catherine O’Hara died in January 2026. She left behind an enviable legacy that begins with the Canadian sketch show “SCTV” and extends to the modern sitcom “Schitt’s Creek” and “The Studio” on Apple TV. But she also played what might have been the quintessential ’90s movie mom when she played Kate McCallister in the first two “Home Alone” films, both of which remain two of the most important. the best Christmas movies of all time.
Although “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” remain beloved across generations for their warm and comforting aura, filming them wasn’t all fun and games – and not just because of Culkin’s film. well-known problems with his notoriously authoritarian father. O’Hara herself struggled while filming the first film, particularly when she had to respond to Kevin’s line about hoping his family would disappear by saying, “Then say it again, maybe it will happen.”
Catherine O’Hara hated being mean to Macaulay Culkin
On December 1, 2023, Macaulay Culkin — who also has an excellent “Home Alone 3” pitch – received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Catherine O’Hara was on hand to give a speech in which she recalled working with the actor on “Home Alone” (via Irish Star), calling it “the most expensive thing”. But she also revealed how much she struggled with the scene in which Kate McCallister forces her son to sleep in the attic for misbehaving.
In the scene, Kevin tells his mother, “I don’t want to see you for the rest of my life, and I don’t want to see anyone else either,” to which Kate responds, “I hope you don’t mean that. You’d feel pretty sad if you woke up tomorrow morning and you didn’t have a family.” In her speech, O’Hara revealed that the whole exchange was a struggle for her:
“The scene where I had to drag him upstairs to sleep in the attic because he misbehaved, he’s talking about family and I say, ‘Well, you’d be pretty sad if you woke up tomorrow morning and you didn’t have a family,’ and he says, ‘No, I wouldn’t.’ And I was supposed to say, “Then say it again, maybe it will happen.” I can’t tell you how much that killed me.”
The actress then recalled that she “couldn’t pack [her] say something so horrible to this beautiful child. ” At the time, however, O’Hara did not yet have children, adding, “Of course, I was not yet a mother at the time and I had no idea what kinds of things would come out of my own mouth with my two sons.” »
