During the 90s, a number of films and filmmakers were able to help the decade become one of the best in film history. Some films toppled box office records, other became cult classics, and some filmmakers etched their names in history while kickstarting their legendary careers.
Home Alone, which was released at the beginning of the decade, it still considered one of the best films to come from the 90s, and it is the perfect example of a movie that did all the little things right. The cast was dynamic together on screen, but on set, an incident took place that left Macaulay Culkin with a permanent scar.
Let's look at what happened between Macaulay Culkin and Joe Pesci.
'Home Alone' Is A True Classic
Back in 1990, Home Alone was released into theaters, and in no time at all, the decade had one of its first classic films. Starring the talented Macaulay Culkin and more than a few other amazing performers, Home Alone became a box office blockbuster that wound up shattering records while earning its place in history.
The production of the movie was an interesting one, with the movie nearly getting completely axed at one point, but everyone brought their A-game and helped the movie become a timeless classic. As great as everyone was, Culkin was the star of the film, and his performance as Kevin McCallister immediately thrust him into the spotlight and made him one of the biggest child stars of all time.
After generating well over $400 million at the box office, Home Alone was a colossal hit that spawned an entire franchise of films. The immediate sequel, Lost in New York, was a success, though not as big as its predecessor. The subsequent sequels did not feature the original cast, and many people aren't aware some of them even exist. Nevertheless, that first film was a triumph at the time.
What most people did not know, however, was that things on set were not so peachy between Macaulay Culkin and Joe Pesci.
Joe Pesci And Macaulay Culkin Had An Interesting Time On Set
According to Mental Floss, "In order to get the most authentic performance possible, Joe Pesci did his best to avoid Macaulay Culkin on the set so that the young actor would indeed be afraid of him."
Not only was he cold to Culkin, but Pesci had a language problem, too. It has been reported that Pesci "wasn’t quite used to the whole family-friendly atmosphere on the set of Home Alone—and dropped a few f-bombs as a result of that. Columbus tried to curb Pesci’s four-letter-word tendency by suggesting he use the word “fridge” instead."
Apparently, this behavior carried over the to sequel. The Independent reports that when Culkin asked Pesci about why he never smiled at him, Pesci replied, "Shut up."
Clearly, the acclaimed actor was doing anything and everything to keep things as real as possible off set, and Pesci himself talked about how differently he treated Culkin compared to everyone else.
"He’s pampered a lot by a lot of people, but not me. And I think he likes that," Pesci once said.
One thing Culkin didn't like, however, was the permanent scar that Pesci left him while filming a scene in the first film together.
How Pesci Gave Culkin A Permanent Scar
So, what happened between Joe Pesci and Macaulay Culkin while filming Home Alone together?
When talking about the incident, Culkin went into detail about the scene itself and how Pesci scarring him up made him feel.
"In one of the scenes, they hang me up on the closet door or something and he says, 'I'm gonna bite each one of your fingers off, one at a time.' And during rehearsal, he actually bit me. He broke the skin and everything," said Culkin.
"I'm a little nine-year-old boy and he's going around biting (my finger). I still have the scar. I didn't even realize until recently. I got really mad at him. I was like, 'I don't care how many Oscars you have, or whatever - don't go biting a nine-year-old! What the heck's wrong with you,'" he continued.
That's right, the adult Pesci actually bit child star Macaulay Culkin so hard to Culkin now has a scar from it. If something like this took place now, it would have gone viral in an instant, and Pesci might have lost his job because of public outrage. Things, however, were seemingly swept under the rug during production, and Pesci was able to keep his role in the film and help turn it into a classic.
