The 1991 movie Macaulay Culkin called the “least favourite” of his career
Macaulay Culkin has one of the most recognisable faces in Hollywood, even though he hasn’t been that consistent as an actor as an adult, but the fact that he landed the leading role in one of the most popular Christmas movies of all time is enough to have secured him stardom for the rest of his life.
Home Alone was such a huge hit that it stood as one of the highest-grossing movies of 1990, which is particularly impressive for a festive film. Penned by John Hughes, it has endured for so long because the premise is so simple, yet so well-executed… with Culkin as the cheeky Kevin McAllister, accidentally left alone by his parents on Christmas, his ploys to prevent two stupid burglars from successfully robbing his house have charmed children and adults alike for decades.
Of course, he then appeared in the sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, while roles in everything from the psychological thriller, The Good Son, to the family-friendly comedy Richie Rich followed. Culkin’s career seemed to be on a major upwards trajectory, but after Richie Rich, he suddenly retired from the big screen, not returning until 2003 when he starred in the bizarre camp thriller Party Monster.
Since then, Culkin’s movie roles have been sparse, with parts in the likes of the strange satire Saved! (in which he uses a wheelchair) and, most recently, Zootopia 2. It seems like Culkin is selective with what he takes on, because he doesn’t want to end up in something he regrets.
You might argue that something like Party Monster was a pretty regrettable choice, what with the movie’s sheer ridiculousness (which includes a pretty crazy outfit in which he wears long green false eyelashes, a purple wig, and a feathery costume that looks like the remnants of Big Bird), but it’s nowhere near his least favourite project.
Rather, it’s a much earlier, and pretty iconic role, that he actually considers his “least favourite”: My Girl. It was a film that traumatised many young audiences with its emotional exploration of death, with 11-year-old Thomas J, played by Culkin, dying after being stung by bees, which he was allergic to.
When his best friend, Vada, hears the news, she is distraught, and at his funeral, she runs up to his open casket and cries in horror when she realises that Thomas J doesn’t have his glasses on. “He can’t see without his glasses!” she sobs, and it’s a moment that is permanently fixed in the minds of many ‘90s kids.
The movie was pretty well received, even if it is a rather sentimental Hollywood weepy, but Culkin struggles to look back on it. Reflecting on it, he called it his “least favourite,” adding, “because I died.” It must’ve been pretty harrowing having to pretend to be dead – lying within a coffin – when he was so young, and even weirder to have to watch such a scene back.
“It was also when I learned I wasn’t allergic to bees,” he told Bunny Ears, concluding, “When I first got the job, I had to go to a doctor to get tested for allergies to make sure I wasn’t allergic so that I wouldn’t die in real life. In your face, Devon Sawa, I got the part!”
