Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Catherine O’Hara missed Home Alone co-star’s wedding for an utterly ridiculous reason

Actor played Kate McCallister in the hit family comedy

Maira Butt
Tuesday 05 November 2024 05:56 EST
Comments
Home Alone - trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Catherine O’Hara has revealed the surprising reason she missed a Home Alone co-star’s wedding.

The Emmy Award-winning Schitt’s Creek actor, 70, starred in the hit family films Home Alone in 1990 and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in 1992.

She played Macaulay Culkin’s character Kevin McCallister’s mother, Kate, who accidentally leaves him at home while the family go on holiday.

The movie became a cult classic, and a mainstay for the Christmas season, with the first film becoming the third highest grossing film of all time by the time it had finished its stint in cinemas.

But despite the success of the movie, and her good relationships with cast members including John Candy, O’Hara says she missed Candy’s wedding because she was engaged in her favourite pastime: sleeping.

The late actor starred as Gus Polinski, the “Pola King of the Midwest” in the original movie. Although he played a small role in the film, his character became much-loved by fans for taking Mrs McCallister along with his band – the Kenosha Kickers, known for their songs “Polka Polka Polka” and “Polka Twist” – to be reunited with her son.

O’Hara was asked by Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus whether she had any regrets in life on the Wiser Than Me podcast, to which she responded she regretted the amount of time she spent sleeping.

“Maybe I missed some things,” she said. “I missed John Candy’s wedding. I was asleep.”

Spaceballs star Candy married his partner Rosemary Margaret Hobor in 1979, until the actor died of a heart attack in 1994, aged 43.

O’Hara says she regrets spending so much time sleeping
O’Hara says she regrets spending so much time sleeping (Getty Images)

In an interview with People, O’Hara admitted she had “such a crush” on him, despite him being in a relationship.

But she acknowledged that the feeling wasn’t mutual. “I wouldn’t claim he was interested in me that way,” the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star said. “But he was always really lovely to me in Second City Theater.”

“It’s so nice to be able to not have to make up any bull, because people loved him,” she said of Candy.

“And when people ask, ‘What was he like?’ they want to hear what they think he’d be like. And it’s so lovely to be able to validate their guesses about what he would be like in person.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in