Catherine O’Hara; Catherine O’Hara in Home Alone in 1990.Photo:KC Armstrong/Deadline via Getty; 20th Century Studios
KC Armstrong/Deadline via Getty; 20th Century Studios
Late last year,Home Alonedirector Chris Columbus weighed in on a question that had perplexed viewers of the iconic 1990 film for decades: just what did the McCallisters do for work in order to affordthathouse? But actress Catherine O’Hara, who played matriarch Kate McCallister, disagrees with the director about her character’s occupation.
The famous Winnetka, Ill., mansion featured in the filmHome Alone(whichsold just before Christmasfor $5.5 million) has been the subject of speculation since the movie debuted. Viewers have long wondered how Kevin’s parents afforded the houseanda massive family trip to Paris around the holidays, with no explanation of what they did for work.
Speaking onHollywood Reporter’sAwards Chatterpodcast on Dec. 24, Columbus said of O’Hara’s character, “I do remember we thought she was an extremely successful fashion designer, which was probably one of the reasons they ended up in Paris.”
“Because we used fashion mannequins in the basement, I do remember having a conversation,” Columbus, 66, added.
The Home Alone house.Dawn McKenna/Coldwell Banker Realty
Dawn McKenna/Coldwell Banker Realty
“I hate to disagree with anything Chris Columbus says, but I do with that,” the actress says in a new interview withEntertainment Weekly, “because I look at those mannequins as she’s successful atsomething, but she also has all these kids and wants to be a great homemaker … At one point, she thought, ‘I’m gonna make all their clothes,’ and that lasted about a week.”
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Speaking toPEOPLE in 2024, O’Hara said of theHome Alonehouse: “I thought the house was pretty amazing. Oh Lord, yeah.”
At the time, however, the actress said she she hadn’t given much thought to the McAllisters' income. “I was aware of how beautiful it was, but no, I never thought of their money. That’s not where my head was when I was doing [the movie]. Of course, they all went to Paris, didn’t they?” she said.
Late last year, the film’s star himself,Macaulay Culkin, admitted that he’seyed the house in the past.
“I had half a mind to buy it — just for giggles,” the actor admitted in December while speaking at a screening of the movie at the Rosemont Theater outside Chicago, theNew York Timesreported.
But Culkin never planned to move into the property himself — instead musing that he would turn it into a “movie fun house” where people could reenact scenes like those in the film.
source: people.com
