Macaulay Culkin’s sons still don’t realize their dad is the Kevin McCallister from Home Alone, even though the movie plays “often” in their house. And the 45-year-old actor couldn’t be happier about it. He is hoping Dakota, four, and Carson, three, stay blissfully unaware for as long as possible that their father once played the clever 10-year-old left to defend the family home at Christmas.
Speaking at the 35th anniversary celebration of Home Alone, Culkin said, “They have no idea that I’m Kevin. They’re only three and four years old, I want to keep up that illusion as long as possible.” He has previously described watching the movie with his kids as “a completely different experience,” seeing it now through their eyes.
But the secret may not last much longer. According to Culkin, Dakota is already connecting the dots.
The actor recalled putting his son to bed one night and answering questions about his seven siblings, Shane, the late Dakota, Kieran, Quinn, Christian, Rory, and his late half-sister Jennifer Adamson. When he showed Dakota an old family photo, his son “immediately looks at me and goes, ‘That kid looks like Kevin.’”
Culkin also remembers teasing his son with famous Home Alone moments. “I told him, ‘Do you remember when you kicked burglars out?’ And he’s like, ‘Yep.’ ‘You slid down the stairs?’ ‘I sure do.’ I was like, ‘You liar. That was me.’”
Culkin, who reprised his iconic role in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, says watching the original film with Dakota and Carson, his children with fiancée Brenda Song, has become genuinely meaningful. “Yeah, I do really love watching that movie with my boys,” he said.
He recently returned to the character for the Home But Not Alone campaign for Home Instead, created in honor of the film’s 35th anniversary. In the spot, Kevin now protects his mother, Kate McCallister, played once again by Catherine O’Hara, from potential dangers in her home.
Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York are currently streaming for the holidays.
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