Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin has opened up about the filming of My Girl’s most memorable and traumatic scene, revealing that what viewers saw on screen didn’t come close to the intensity of what really happened on set.
In a recent podcast interview, the actor described a method used during production that he stated would never be allowed today.
Macaulay Culkin revealed that My Girl actually used real bees on set
Culkin, now 45, stated that he was horrified to learn that the production team would be using real bees when they filmed the scene where his character, Thomas J, lost his life.
“I was working with the bees,” Culkin said during his interview with the On Film … with Kevin McCarthy podcast.
Image credits: Sony Pictures Entertainment
“The way they did that, they wouldn’t do that today. They put this stuff on my fingertips that smells like the queen bee so (the bees) were actually attracted to my hands, and I wasn’t a threat.”
To capture the tragic scene on camera, producers released thousands of bees around the 10-year-old child actor, according to the New York Post.
Image credits: Sony Pictures Entertainment
“They actually released thousands of bees on me, imagine that! I’m not joking, those are real bees,” Culkin said. “That would not fly today. They just told me to wave my hands in front of my face so the bees can get in front of my face and it looks good for the camera.”
After each take, the team told the child star to get away from the bees as fast as possible. “As soon as they yelled ‘cut’, I had to soap my hands in hot water and then dart into the woods,” Culkin said.
Image credits: Sony Pictures Entertainment
The former child actor also recalled how a bee handler offered him a piece of advice when they filmed the tragic scene: “Human beings run faster than bees fly.”
Culkin noted that his younger self found the advice lacking. “I was like, ‘but I’m 10. How fast do you think I am?’” he recalled.
Despite the production team’s precautions, Culkin didn’t completely avoid bee stings
Across four takes of the scene, Culkin avoided bee stings, at least for the most part.
“I got a stinger in my neck. It didn’t sting me, my neck went into the stinger,” Culkin explained. “It didn’t break off.”
Culkin’s comments resonated with longtime fans of the classic film. One person reflected on how deeply My Girl affected an entire generation.
“That scene definitely hit way harder than anyone expected from a kids’ movie. It stuck with a whole generation not because it was graphic, but because it was unexpectedly emotional. It’s one of those movie moments people never quite forget,” the person wrote.
Another netizen highlighted that the scene still carries the same emotional weight decades later. “I just watched that movie for the first time in years and I still cry like a baby when I see that,” the commenter wrote.
Culkin also reflected on his decision to step away from Hollywood after Home Alone’s runaway success
Image credits: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Culkin became a household name when he starred in Home Alone in 1990.
The film became a cultural phenomenon and is widely considered the most successful Christmas film ever made.
Filmed on an $18 million budget, Home Alone would gross over $476 million worldwide.
That’s a profit margin of 1,483%, one of the most notable in Hollywood history.
The film won numerous awards, including the Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Movie. It also received two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
Its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which also starred Culkin, was a major success as well. The movie earned $350 million at the box office against a $28 million budget.
Despite his immense success as a child star, Culkin said he reached a breaking point at a young age.
In his recent podcast appearance, he recalled telling his father, “I’m getting tired. I think I need a break.”
According to Culkin, he finally managed to step away from the industry after his parents separated. He has not spoken to his father, Christopher “Kit” Culkin, in more than 30 years.
He described their relationship in stark terms, calling his father “narcissistic.”
He said that although a judge ordered visitation, he refused. “I dare the judge to put me in jail for not wanting to visit [my father],” he remembered saying.
“I actually, I’m gonna double down on that. I double dare him to arrest the most famous kid in the world.”
Netizens shared their thoughts on Macaulay Culkin’s revelations about My Girl’s tragic scene on social media
