Macaulay Culkin has opened up about one of the most unforgettable — and heartbreaking — scenes he ever filmed.
Fans of the 1991 coming-of-age classic My Girl will recall the emotional moment when young Thomas J returns to the woods for Vada’s lost mood ring and ends up tragically swarmed by bees.
What many didn’t know until now is just how real that moment actually was.
“They Really Released Thousands of Bees on Me”
Appearing on the podcast On Film… With Kevin McCarthy, Culkin, now 45, shared the behind-the-scenes reality of filming that scene at age ten.
And according to him, the production took a very literal approach.
“They put this stuff on my fingertips that smelled like the queen bee,” he explained.
“So they were drawn to my hands — I wasn’t a threat.”
Then came the part no one today would believe a studio allowed: “They actually released thousands of bees on me. Imagine that.”
When the host pressed him, assuming it had to be a joke, Culkin confirmed every word: real bees, real swarms, real terror — something he laughed about now but admitted “would not fly nowadays.”
A Ten-Year-Old Dodging Bees Between Takes
The young actor was instructed to wave his hands near his face so the bees would gather where the camera needed them.
The moment the director yelled cut, handlers rushed in with hot soapy water for Culkin to plunge his hands into, and he’d sprint into the woods to escape the swarm.
“One of the bee guys told me, ‘Humans can run faster than bees fly,’” Culkin recalled.
“But I’m ten years old! How fast do you think I am?”
They shot the scene four separate times, and while he escaped mostly unscathed, he did get stung once — right on the neck.
Reflecting on Thomas J While Revisiting Kevin McCallister
The bee story isn’t the only nostalgic moment on Culkin’s mind.
Recently, he teased that he isn’t entirely opposed to returning to the character that made him a global star — Kevin McCallister from Home Alone.
During a Nostalgic Night event, he told fans he’d consider it “if it was done just right.”
It’s been 35 years since he first played the clever, booby-trap-setting eight-year-old in the 1990 blockbuster and its iconic New York-set sequel.
Imagining His Own Version of a New Home Alone
Culkin has even cooked up an idea for what a new chapter could look like.
His pitch? A grown-up Kevin who’s either divorced or widowed, trying to raise a child while juggling life’s pressures.
In a twist, the tables turn — his kid becomes the one shutting him out and setting the traps.
“The house becomes this metaphor for our relationship,” Culkin explained, describing Kevin trying to “get let back into his heart.”
It’s his closest version of what a continuation could be, and he insists he’s “not completely allergic to it” if the stars align.
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