‘Home Alone’ Director Finally Reveals What the McCallisters did for a Living

‘Home Alone’ Director Finally Reveals What the McCallisters did for a Living

The holiday classic ‘Home Alone’ has long puzzled viewers with one burning question: What did the McCallister parents do for a living? Director Chris Columbus recently revealed the answer during an interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s ‘Awards Chatter’ podcast.

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The McCallisters, portrayed by Catherine O’Hara and John Heard, reside in a palatial Chicago home and can afford a lavish family trip to Paris for 15 people, including extended relatives. This extravagant lifestyle has long puzzled ‘Home Alone’ fans, who have been questioning the couple’s financial means since the film’s 1990 debut.

“Back then, John and I had a conversation about it, and we decided on what the jobs were,” Columbus said. “We thought the mother, at the time, because we used mannequins in the basement — I do remember having a conversation — she was a very successful fashion designer. The father could have, based on John Hughes’ own experience, worked in advertising, but I don’t remember what the father did.”

Columbus debunked the popular theory that the father was involved in organized crime, acknowledging that Chicago had a significant organized crime presence at the time. The film centers around the McCallisters, a large family embarking on a Parisian vacation. However, they accidentally leave their youngest son, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), behind. Kevin must then navigate his newfound independence while simultaneously defending his home from a pair of notorious burglars, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

Despite ‘Home Alone’ becoming Macaulay Culkin’s signature role, director Chris Columbus initially had reservations about casting him. Columbus admitted on the ‘Awards Chatter’ podcast that he had to overcome his own directorial ego to recognize Culkin as the perfect choice for the role.

“This is why John Hughes was a great producer for a director, and I learned a lot from him,” Columbus explained. “He said, ‘Will you take a look at meeting Macaulay?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’d like to meet Macaulay, but I’d like to meet everyone else, too.’ I ended up meeting 300 other kids, too. Total colossal waste of time, because then I met Macaulay again, and it was magical.”

Culkin became a 1990s child star, starring in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” “My Girl,” “Richie Rich,” “The Pagemaster,” and many other films. Columbus knew Pesci and Stern were perfect together from their first screen test.

Did you ever have your own theory for what the McCallister’s did for work?

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