Curse of Home Alone stars from drugs and early deaths to loss of beloved son

There are few films more festive than Home Alone - despite the beloved movie and its sequels containing a fair bit of wince-inducing violence. But behind the scenes, many of the cast members have suffered terrible tragedies.

The classic tale of Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) and his forgetful family was a smash hit upon its release in November 1990, becoming the second highest-grossing film of that year. The follow-up, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), has also stood the test of time, with some fans even believing it to surpass the original.

To this day, kids and big kids alike continue to tune in year after year to see plucky Kevin defend his home against the 'Wet Bandits', with the youngster's bloodcurdling scream having become just as much a part of Christmas as carol singing and Jingle Bells.

However, there are those who believe the heartwarming film franchise to be 'cursed', with a number of the actors having faced misfortune, trauma and even early death. A full 34 years on from Catherine O'Hara's now iconic plane realisation, the Mirror takes a look at the supposed 'curse' of Home Alone...

Troubled child star

Macaulay Culkin was just 10 years old when he shot to fame as Kevin McCallister, the resourceful eight-year-old who gets left behind in Chicago following a frantic airport dash. All set to celebrate Christmas in Paris, the McCallisters' plans are derailed spectacularly when they realise their youngest son has been left alone to fend for himself.

Suddenly a household name, Macaulay reprised the role of Kevin in Home Alone 2 and went on to star in hits such as My Girl (1991) and Richie Rich (1994). As one of the most recognisable child actors of all time, Macaulay enjoyed global success before he was able to legally live alone - but his personal life has been marred by difficulties.

As a child, he had a close friendship with the controversial late pop star Michael Jackson but insisted the musician didn't act inappropriately towards him. In a rare interview given to Esquire in 2020, Macaulay shared: "I’m gonna begin with the line — it’s not a line, it’s the truth — he never did anything to me.

"I never saw him do anything. And especially at this flash point in time, I’d have no reason to hold anything back. The guy has passed on. If anything–I’m not gonna say it would be stylish or anything like that–but right now is a good time to speak up. And if I had something to speak up about, I would totally do it. But no, I never saw anything; he never did anything.”

In 2005, the Thriller singer was charged with intoxicating and molesting a 13-year-old boy and was later acquitted. The last time Macaulay saw Michael before his death in 2009 was when he testified in his defence.

By the age of 15, Macauley had effectively "divorced" his parents to stop them from allegedly controlling his $17 million (£13.3 million) fortune. In a 2018 interview with Marc Maron on his WTF podcast, Macaulay alleged that his "jealous" father, Christopher 'Kit' Culkin, had been "mentally and physically" abusive towards him.

Macaulay claimed: "Everything he (Macaulay's father) tried to do in life, I excelled at before I was 10 years old." He went on to describe his parents' divorce as "one of the best things that's ever happened" - as it led to him leaving Hollywood behind. He continued: "I even wanted to take a break for a while and eventually I was like 'I'm done guys, hope you all made your money because there is no more coming from me'."

The child star then married actress Rachel Milner when he was just 17 years old, but the marriage lasted just two years. Speaking wryly about this 'cliché' with Spin in 2004, Macaulay remarked: "If you were going to write out all the clichés of being a young actor, what are they? Either you’re going to lose all your money, you’re going to be addicted to drugs, you’re going to be gay, or you’re going to get married young. Okay, guilty on that count.”

In 2004, Macaulay, 44, was arrested for possessing marijuana and a controlled substance without a prescription, receiving a one-year suspended sentence.

In recent years, however, Macaulay appears to live a much happier life. He has found love again with actress Brenda Song, with whom he shares two sons, Dakota Song Culkin and Carson Song Culkin. He co-founded the comedy rock band The Pizza Underground (a Velvet Underground tribute act) and, despite his earlier disillusionment with acting, has starred in a number of indie movies, and has even launched his own lifestyle website, Bunny Ears.

In December 2023, Macaulay received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in honour of his long and eventful career. In a speech given at the time, the icon blinked back stars as he paid tribute to his love Brenda, stating: "You are absolutely everything, you're my champion. You're the only person happier for me today than I am.

"You're not only the best woman I've ever known, you're the best person I've ever known. You've given me just all my purpose. You've given me family. And after the birth of our two boys, you've become one of my three favourite people. You're somewhere in there. But I love you. I love you so much."

Ending his speech with a seasonal nod to Home Alone, Macaulay concluded: "To wrap things up, in the spirit of the holiday season. I just want to say, Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals."

Last Christmas, Macaulay also delighted fans by reprising his Home Alone role in a tongue-in-cheek Google Assistant advert, which saw him play an adult Kelvin McAllister.

Looking back on his rollercoaster life in his Esquire interview, including his battle with his parents, Macaulay reflected that things could have been worse. Macaulay revealed: "I legally took my parents’ names off of my trust fund and found an executor, someone who would look over my finances, just in case anyone wanted to stick their f*****g pinkie in the pie. But the next thing you know, the story was that I divorced my parents.

"I just thought I was doing it cleanly - taking my father’s name off, taking my mom’s name off, so my opinion is unbiased. And when I did that, the whole thing kinda ended a lot faster."

He continued:: "Look, I mean, it sucks. But, it coulda been worse, you know? I wasn’t working in a coal mine. I wasn’t a child soldier. My father was not sexually abusing me. ‘Certain f***ed up things happened, but f****d up things happen to kids all the time, and they don’t come out the other end. I’ve got something to show for it, man. I mean, look at me: I got money, I got fame, I got a beautiful girlfriend and a beautiful house and beautiful animals."

Funnyman's early death

Comedy legend John Candy played Gus Polinski, The Polka King, who helped Kevin's mum, Kate McAllister (Catherine O'Hara), get home to her lonely little boy. Sadly, the actor died four years after the smash hit film was released in 1994, aged just 43.

John had been filming Wild West comedy Wagons East when he wrapped his last scene, cooked a celebratory meal for his assistants and was found dead in his bed the next morning. He had suffered a heart attack, and in his life, he had been a big drinker, a heavy smoker and battled weight issues.

The Canadian actor was survived by his wife Rosemary, son Christopher, and daughter Jennifer. He will be remembered for his many hit films, including Uncle Buck, The Great Outdoors, and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

John, who had been on set for just one day for his Home Alone cameo, took a relatively low paycheck for his small but memorable role, and was reportedly left with a little 'resentment' after the film proved to be a goldmine. In 2020, 30 years on from the first film, Home Alone director Chris Columbus told Business Insider: "There was certainly a little resentment on John's part. It was a deal between him and John Hughes at the time. I never met John Candy before he came on the movie.

"I don't know if John ever got any kind of compensation from Fox. We did a movie together after that, Only the Lonely, and there were a couple times on set when he would make a cutting remark about Fox and what he was paid."

In the same interview, Chris also shed a little light on John's comic genius, sharing: "He was on the movie for only one day, but it resulted in so much great improvisation. None of that stuff was in the script. The funeral parlour story, that was all improvised at 4:30 in the morning. We could barely keep a straight face on set just listening to John."

In March of this year, to mark the 30th anniversary of John's death, his daughter Jennifer, now 44, shared a sweet father-daughter snap via Instagram, captioning it: "30 years ago today … feels like both a lifetime with and without you. Miss you and love you always."

Loss of a son

John Heard played Peter McCallister in Home Alone, a loving dad to Kevin and his four older siblings. Offscreen, John's life was more difficult. The actor was the father of three children, having the oldest, John Matthew Heard, with actress and former girlfriend Melissa Leo. John became locked in a battle over his son, known as Jack and was accused of trespass and charged with assault after allegations he had slapped Melissa, stalked her and their son and beat up her new partner.

Married and divorced three times, the star had two younger children, Max and Annika, with his second wife Sharon. Max was just 22 and estranged from his father when he died in 2017, with Sharon saying he had "died peacefully in his sleep". Six months after Max's death, John was found dead in a California hotel room by a maid. He had suffered a fatal heart attack, aged 71.

In 2008, John, who very rarely gave interviews, spoke with 411 Movies about some of the regrets he'd had as an actor, with his supposed reputation as "an arrogant jerk" seeing him lose out on parts. John said: "When I came to Hollywood, I was pretty much a stage actor, and I expected everybody to be quiet. And they weren't. They were doing their job, and you're expected to do your job, and you're sort of this ongoing co-existence. I was a little bit of an arrogant jerk. Now, it's a little bit more like, 'Okay, I realise you have to pat me down with powder every three seconds'. And I stand there, and I'm a little more tolerant."

He added: "I think I had my time. I dropped the ball, as my father would say. I think I could have done more with my career than I did, and I sort of got sidetracked. But that's OK, that's alright, that's the way it is. No sour grapes. I mean, I don't have any regrets. Except that,t I could have played some bigger parts. I could have played Hamlet, I could have played Iago in Othello, I could have played A Long Day's Journey, and I had some problems, and it didn't work. And those ... I regret. I regret not having those heavyweight parts under my belt."

Traumatic childhood

Macaulay wasn't the only Culkin in Home Alone, with his younger brother Kieran cast as Kevin's bed-wetting younger cousin Fuller in the movie. Kieran starred in the second Home Alone film too and had further success in Father Of The Bride and She's all That before landing a role in hit series, Succession.

But offscreen the actor, 42, accused his father Kit, a former stage actor, of not being "a good person and probably not not a good parent". "I never looked at him as Dad," he said. "He didn't really belong here and when he was finally gone for good, it made the most sense."

The brothers had six other siblings. Tragically, their sister Dakota Culkin in December 2008, when she was hit by a car at the age of just 29.

Opening up in November of this year during an interview with CBS News, Kieran spoke of how Dakota had inspired his performances on Succession. Kieran shared: "After a couple seasons on 'Succession,' I realized there was some stuff that Roman did that I was like, 'Oh, that's my sister. That was her sense of humour'.

"She could find exactly what the right thing to make fun of you was that would get to you, but be really funny and make the room laugh. That was her."

Looking back on how the loss had affected him, Kieran continued: "I only knew who I was because of who my siblings are. So, to lose one was losing a big piece of myself. Losing one of my favourite people in the world, it doesn't get easier. But you get used to it."

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