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Home Alone's Catherine O’Hara wasn't first choice to play Kevin's mum

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

From Digital Spy

Here is some potentially childhood-tainting news: Home Alone character Kate McAllister could have been played by a different actress to Catherine O'Hara.

Imagine somebody else screaming the name Kevin on a transatlantic flight or reuniting with her beloved son under a gigantic Christmas tree... the idea simply doesn't compute.

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

Related: Home Alone's original director says Disney+ is "wasting its time" with reboot

This bombshell was revealed by the movie's cinematographer Julio Macat during a chat with Metro.

Acknowledging Home Alone's 30-year anniversary, Macat said: "My wife, Elizabeth Perkins, had a similar situation where she worked on a movie that also was very special. You know the movie, Big? She was the girlfriend, Susan.

"We hadn't met yet and she filmed that movie almost a year before Home Alone. [Screenwriter] John Hughes asked her to be the Catherine O'Hara role, and she wasn't able to do it, she was busy."

Photo credit: Keipher McKennie/WireImage
Photo credit: Keipher McKennie/WireImage

Related: What happened to the stars of Big?

The cinematographer further recalled: "We met on a movie called Miracle On 34th Street, so we would have met four or five years before. We met on the movie and we fell in love."

Despite not encountering each other on the Home Alone set, Macat and Perkins eventually worked together on the 1994 festive favourite, starring Richard Attenborough, and tied the knot at the turn of the century.


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