With the Christmas season in full swing, millions of people are watching their favorite holiday films, and to be sure, a not insignificant number of those people are watching Home Alone. It turns out, the movie is a favorite at the home of star Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song, because their kids love it, despite apparently having no idea that their dad is the star.
Culkin and director Christopher Columbus recently appeared at the Academy Museum to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Home Alone, and the star revealed (via THR) that he’s never told his kids he’s in the movie. It’s not that he’s simply never told them, but he’s actively tried to stave off the inevitability of them finding out. He explained:
They don’t even call it Home Alone, they call it Kevin. They’re like, ‘Wow Kevin’s really funny’; I go, ‘He’s also handsome, somebody that your mom might be into.' I showed my oldest — he wanted to see a picture of me and my siblings, so I pulled up this old photo; it’s all my siblings and he looks right at me and he goes, ‘Who’s that? That looks like Kevin.’ I go, ‘Oh, no, nobody, here’s your aunt.'
Clearly, Macaulay Culkin’s kids are smart enough to recognize an old picture of their Dad as looking like the character in that movie they like, but Dad is going out of his way to prevent them from making the connection. He must make sure they don't see his new commercial.
This is even more difficult for the actor because while he hasn’t told his kids that he plays Kevin in Home Alone, other members of his family haven’t been so secretive with their kids. Apparently, a young cousin recently came close to spilling the beans. He continued…
Their little cousin was over, she’s 5 years old. They told her, ‘We’re gonna watch Kevin tonight.’ And she turned to me, she goes, ‘You’re Kevin.’ I said, ‘No you’re Kevin, shut up!’ I’m trying to keep the magic alive.
I’m honestly fascinated by all of this. Do they do the same thing with Brenda Song’s early Disney Channel stuff, or is this exclusively a Home Alone thing? What exactly do the kids think their parents do for a living?
Culkin’s two children were born in 2021 and 2022, making them about three and four years old. Clearly, the window for keeping this secret is shrinking. At some point, those kids are going to learn to read, and they’ll be able to see their dad’s name in the opening credits. At that point, Dad is going to have some explaining to do. If the Home Alone sequel idea that Macauley Culkin has ever gets any traction, he won't be able to hide that.
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