Us spills 15 secrets about the classic holiday film, Home Alone.

Fresh off its milestone 30th anniversary, Us shares secrets and trivia about the iconic holiday movie and its stars

1Screenwriter John Hughes was inspired to write Home Alone after seeing Macaulay Culkin’s performance in Uncle Buck. And although he wrote the part of Kevin McCallister specifically for the young actor, the film’s director, Chris Columbus, still auditioned hundreds of children for the role before giving it to the up-and-comer.

2Kevin’s famous scream scene was improvised! “That was not written the way Macaulay performed it,” Columbus revealed. “But on the first take, he… kept his hands glued to his face, and his hands stayed completely still as he screamed like the Edvard Munch painting. That’s why he was such an interesting kid: No one else would have done that.”

3Let it snow! The crew used potato flakes and fans to make it look like it was blizzarding for the iconic Christmas morning scene.

4The McCallister family’s Chicago home is a real property located in Winnetka, Ill. Since the film’s release, it’s become a popular tourist attraction and was sold in 2012 for $1.585 million.

5Catherine O’Hara, who starred as Kevin’s mom, Kate, worried that some of her lines were too mean for a mother to say to a child and even argued with the director about changing them. But now that the actress has kids of her own, “I know I’m capable of saying much more horrific things to my sons.”

6There’s more than one Culkin in the movie! The actor’s younger brother Kieran (who now stars on Succession) made his screen debut playing Kevin’s cousin.

7Buzz’s girlfriend is actually a guy. According to Devin Ratray, who played Kevin’s mean older brother, producers thought the line “Buzz, your girlfriend… woof” would upset any girl in the photo. But luckily, “the art director had a son who was more than willing to volunteer for the part.”

8Culkin had a 30-year-old stunt double! Stuntman Larry Nicholas was the same size as the 9-yearold actor.

9John Candy agreed to film his part as the clarinet player even though he was in the middle of another job — and only had 21 hours to make it work! “We improvised for [those] 21 hours,” O’Hara recalled. “It was the best!”

10The tarantula that walked across Daniel Stern’s face was real! So was the actor’s bloodcurdling scream: “I asked if that would spook the spider, but I guess tarantulas can’t hear,” Stern, who starred as robber Marv, explained. “I was committed fully to that movie.”

11Robert De Niro and Jon Lovitz both turned down the role of Marv’s partner in crime, Harry, which then went to Joe Pesci.

12Pesci didn’t interact with Culkin outside of filming because he wanted the young actor to be legitimately afraid of him. Pesci also had such a hard time not swearing on set that he was forced to develop the muttering gibberish he uses when he’s in pain or stressed.

13Stern and Pesci were former costars and friends before joining forces for Home Alone.

Stern said they took their inspiration for the Wet Bandits from cartoons like Wile E. Coyote and the classic comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.

14Culkin has a battle scar from his time on the flick. In the scene where Kevin is hung from the back of a door by his collar, Harry threatens him by saying, “I’m gonna bite all your fingers off, one at a time.” During rehearsal, Pesci “actually bit me,” recalled Culkin. “He broke the skin and everything!”

15Talk about a raise: Culkin was paid $100,000 for the film but was able to command $4.5 million for the sequel — a recordbreaking amount for a child star.