Joe Pesci said he used to avoid Macaulay Culkin on the set of the Home Alone films
(Picture: Handout)Joe Pesci has admitted he used to avoid Macaulay Culkin on the set of the Home Alone films over 30 years ago.
The 79-year-old starred opposite the child star in the festive flick and its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, when Culkin was 10 and 12.
The Goodfellas actor played Harry in the first film, one of the two burglars attempting to break into the house of Kevin McCallister (Culkin), a child who is left behind when his family travel to Paris for the holidays.
The sequel, which is set a year later, sees Kevin facing his arch-nemeses — the Wet Bandits — again after he accidentally boards a flight to New York City when his family flies to Florida for Christmas.
Pesci, who is known for his method acting style, revealed that he chose to stay away from his young co-star when they weren’t filming to “preserve the dynamic” between their characters.
In a new interview celebrating 30 years of the sequel, the actor told People: “I remember Macaulay as being a really sweet kid and, even at his age, very professional.”
“I intentionally limited my interactions with him to preserve the dynamic between his character, Kevin, and my character, Harry.”
He explained that he did not “want it to come across on the screen that we were in any way friendly” while shooting scenes with the young star, who is now 42.
“I wanted to maintain the integrity of the adversarial relationship.”
Not only did Pesci reveal his acting method on the set of the film, but he also said he was left with “serious burns” on his head after his character’s hat was set on fire by Kevin in the sequel.
Pesci said he did the stunt himself for the scene, and shared: “In addition to the expected bumps, bruises and general pains that you would associate with that particular type of physical humour, I did sustain serious burns to the top of my head during the scene where Harry’s hat is set on fire.”
