Home Alone is one of those classic Christmas movies that gets watched all around the world during the holidays. It’s full of great lines, music, and perfect casting that all culminated in movie magic. But just like all films, it could have looked quite different if some of the casting choices had gone another way.
The 1990 family film dominated box offices for 12 weeks straight and held the title of highest-grossing live-action comedy for 27 years. It had some pretty powerful star power with the actor Joe Pesci signed on to play the robber Harry, but as it turns out, the role was first offered to his Goodfellas co-star Robert De Niro.
Director Chris Columbus knew it was a longshot getting either of the serious actors in the role, and he revealed to back in 2020, “It was talked about a little internally, but when Pesci said yes, I was stunned.”
In between De Niro and Pesci, the filmmaker had a hard time deciding who should take on the role of Harry. After De Niro passed, the production approached comedian Jon Lovitz, who made a decision he’d later regret. “I didn’t want to play second fiddle to some kid,” Lovitz admitted in an interview with Huff Post. “Then it became the biggest comedy of all time. Oops.”
One of the most surprising and amusing near-casting choices involves future SNL writer and comedy legend, John Mulaney. Before Macaulay Culkin secured his iconic role as Kevin McCallister, Mulaney, who was two years younger than Culkin, almost had his shot at stardom.
Mulaney was performing in a children’s sketch comedy troupe when a talent scout spotted him and requested an audition. However, his parents put the kibosh on his potential Hollywood breakthrough, refusing to let him “audition for a movie.”
All these years later, Mulaney is not bitter about missing out on the role. He told Vogue back in 2015 that the original Home Alone is “an almost perfect film,” and that he didn’t “think anyone could do it as well as Macaulay.” The comedian has even incorporated his missed opportunity into his stand-up material, which you can see in his Netflix special The Comeback Kid.
Other interesting casting “almosts” include Frasier star Kelsey Grammer, who was the first choice for Uncle Frank, and Saturday Night Live legend Chris Farley, who auditioned for the role of Santa, but didn’t make the cut. Both of these would have been good choices, but wouldn’t have changed the film too much.
All in all, those would missed out still went on to have great careers, and the film became a holiday staple for many. It’s just fun to hear about what could have been.
via: CB
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