Home Alone director reveals secrets behind film’s wild stunts and the scene he feared would ‘kill’ his stand-ins

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The director of Home Alone has lifted the lid on all the movie magic behind his hit holiday film.

The beloved Christmas movie Home Alone was filmed in 1990, before the widespread use of computer-generated effects. This meant that all the elaborate and dangerous stunts had to be achieved through practical effects, requiring incredibly resourceful prop work and fearless stunt performers.

I recently came across an old interview with John Columbus, and it’s been going around again as the holidays approach. He finally explained how they pulled off that incredible climax in the movie – you know, the one where the robbers break into what looks like an empty house, but a young boy is actually home! It’s fascinating to hear him break down the details.

In a 2021 interview with the American Film Institute, Columbus discussed the demanding physical challenges he put his actors through, admitting he feared a particular stunt sequence could have been fatal for Troy Brown and Leon Delaney, his stunt performers.

The scene everyone is talking about is where the burglars, Merv and Harry, tried to break into the second story of the house.

However, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) had rigged a booby trap that foiled their plans, covering their faces with paint.

Despite the funny scenes they filmed, Columbus explained that the mood immediately changed after they stopped shooting, as everyone initially believed some of the actors had been hurt.

Columbus remembered this as one of the most frightening stunts they filmed for the upcoming project.

We filmed the stunt, and when I called “cut,” the stunt performers remained still. Everyone was genuinely worried, because we initially believed they’d been seriously injured.

We only knew the stunts were really landing when the stuntman would brush it off, saying he was okay and ready for another try. That’s when we’d watch the footage and realize it was actually working – it was funny, and we were on the right track.

Performing in person was scary because the performers were at real risk of injury. They didn’t have modern safety measures like padded floors – everything was done with minimal protection, and mistakes could have serious consequences.

Fortunately, the paint cans were made out of rubber. 

The paint cans were flexible, offering the only possible protection for their surfaces in that moment.

That wasn’t the only clever use the film made out of the material. 

The nail Merv stepped on as he attempted to sneak into the house was also made out of rubber.

He explained that the ‘nail’ used in the stunt is actually made of rubber and retracts when the performer steps on it. It creates the illusion of significant pain, but isn’t actually harmful.

Merv had a really rough time in the movie – he first stepped on a nail, and then was forced to walk through broken Christmas ornaments barefoot.

Behind-the-scenes, Stern was actually wearing rubber feet.

Columbus explained that Dan Stern wore special rubber feet throughout the scene to keep his feet safe from the decorations.

‘So if you freeze the frame and look closely, you’ll see that his feet are a little oversized.’

Stern had a striking reaction in another scene, visibly reacting to a spider without making a sound – almost like a silent scream.

Originally, a tarantula was going to be put on Stern’s face, but a trainer worried that if he screamed, it might cause the spider to bite him.

So Stern ended up letting a ‘silent scream’ instead, and a shriek was edited in afterwards. 

We spent weeks debating the spider scene. I kept insisting we use a real spider, not computer effects. He was completely against it. Eventually, I pleaded with him, asking for just one take with the spider on his face. The spider handler warned us that if he screamed, it might scare the spider and cause it to bite.

That didn’t help Dan feel any better, so we filmed it in one take as a silent scream – he didn’t say anything on set. We actually added the scream sound later in post-production with ADR.

Another stunt that required coaxing was the scene in which Harry’s head catches on fire.

Pesci was originally hesitant to perform the stunt, which involved wearing a ceramic helmet and having it set ablaze.

He was eventually persuaded after the producer had his eight-year-old daughter wear it. 

It was a helmet made of ceramic, and we literally lit it on fire for the scene. This was before computer-generated effects were common. Joe wouldn’t wear it, saying he absolutely refused to risk his hair catching fire.

We had the producer’s eight-year-old daughter demonstrate to Joe that it was safe, and that convinced him to go ahead with it.

Unfortunately, Pesci did endure serious burns.

During the scene where Harry’s hat catches fire, I suffered serious burns to the scalp, on top of the usual scrapes and bruises you’d expect from that kind of physical comedy,” he explained to People magazine in 2022.

‘I was fortunate enough to have professional stuntmen do the real heavy stunts,’ he continued.  

Pesci called the film ‘a nice change of pace.’

He explained that doing that kind of silly, physical comedy was a refreshing experience. He noted that the Home Alone films were even more physically demanding.

Home Alone tells the story of a young boy, Macaulay Culkin, who is mistakenly left at home when his family goes on Christmas vacation. He must then defend the house from burglars on Christmas Eve.

It was released in 1990 and remains a holiday classic. 

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2025-12-24 17:21