Joe Pesci Says He Suffered Serious Burns While Filming ‘Home Alone 2’

by TK Sanders December 1, 2022, 9:05 pmupdated December 1, 2022, 9:43 pm 2.2k Views 17 Comments

Perhaps the most memorable part of the Home Alone franchise is the slew of comical and inventive booby traps young Kevin McAllister devises to inflict maximum pain and embarrassment on his rivals, the Wet Bandits. The two low-level crooks face red-hot doorknobs, mounted flame throwers, automated staple guns, and cascading paint cans from their young nemesis. In an interview celebrating the sequel’s 30th anniversary, Joe Pesci revealed that his character Marv actually received more real-life pain than he bargained for, though.

“In addition to the expected bumps, bruises, and general pains that you would associate with that particular type of physical humor, I did sustain serious burns to the top of my head during the scene where Harry’s hat is set on fire,” the Goodfellas actor says, noting that he did the stunt work required for that particular scene himself.

“I was fortunate enough to have professional stuntmen do the real heavy stunts,” he clarified, likely meaning the many trips, falls, and flying objects his character faced.

Joe Pesci said the sequel was full of “energy and enthusiasm”

Pesci also noted that he rarely interacted with young child star McCauley Culkin while filming, in order to preserve some natural tension as actors.

“I remember Macaulay as being a really sweet kid and, even at his age, very professional,” Pesci says. “I intentionally limited my interactions with him to preserve the dynamic between his character, Kevin, and my character Harry.”

Pesci notes that he did not “want it to come across on the screen that we were in any way friendly” while shooting scenes with the young star.

“I wanted to maintain the integrity of the adversarial relationship,” he explained.

And asked whether he would ever consider reprising his role as Harry for another rebooted film, the 79-year-old actor says that it would be “difficult to replicate” the magic of the original films. Not to mention — the talented child star, Culkin, is 42 now, and the original writer John Hughes passed away in 2009.

“While you never say never, I think that it would be difficult to replicate not only the success but also the overall innocence of the originals,” Pesci says. “It’s a different time now; attitudes and priorities have changed in 30 years.”