Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was the third-highest-grossing movie of 1992. However, were it not for one very notable cameo, it would likely have been forgotten as a movie by the general public.
But a cameo by future president Donald Trump has ensured the movie has stuck around. This came about due to the movie shooting scenes in the real-life Plaza Hotel lobby, which was owned by Trump at the time. His condition for allowing this? “The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie.”
And so, reluctantly, director Chris Columbus kept him in, later saying that “he did bully his way into the movie”, and describing the cameo as “this curse”, while star Macauley Culkin endorsed a fan petition to digitally erase Trump.
‘Home Alone 2’ director Chris Columbus says he wants Donald Trump’s cameo removed:
— Pop Base (@PopBase) April 15, 2025
“I just wish it was gone. I can’t cut it. If I cut it, I’ll probably be sent out of the country.” pic.twitter.com/96X8PgmYEf
Now cult movie icon Tim Curry, who played suspicious concierge Mr Hector, has finally opened up. Speaking to The Guardian, he outlined his experience, notably Trump’s attempts to convince Columbus that he should cast his then-girlfriend, Marla Maples, in an upcoming movie:
“He was very anxious to find Chris Columbus, the director … He said: ‘I’ve got to get Marla to meet Chris Columbus because she’s a brilliant actress.’ And I thought: ‘Yeah, I’m sure.’”
Meanwhile, Curry had to deal firsthand with Trump’s wife, Ivana. Curry was given a room in the hotel while shooting, but hated the gaudy interior design. So, when Ivana came knocking, he gritted his teeth and lied to her about how great it all was:
“She knocked on my door and said, ‘Are you happy in your room? Do you like the way it looks?’ And I loathed it actually.”
That acid tongue…
Curry, whose string of exceptional villainous performances cemented him in the public consciousness, is now 79. In 2012, he suffered a major stroke, which has left him confined to a wheelchair, though it’s clear his cutting wit and sharp tongue haven’t been affected.
He last appeared on screen as The Criminologist in 2016’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, but now focuses primarily on voice roles, most recently voicing Lockwood in 2024 horror Stream. Here’s hoping he still has many years of work left for us.
