Joe Pesci Wants To Return To His Best Role For Another Sequel?
December is here, and many families look forward to the annual watch of classic Christmas favorites throughout the month. One staple for many homes is the Joe Pesci classic, Home Alone, which pit Kevin McAlister (Macaulay Culkin) against the Wet Bandits, Harry (Joe Pesci), and Marv (Daniel Stern). In a recent interview with People, Pesci stated, “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…It’s a different time now; attitudes and priorities have changed in 30 years.”
Joe Pesci, well known for his role in Goodfellas, starred as Harry Lime in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. In the first movie, Harry, along with his sidekick Marv Murchins, concocted a scheme to rob wealthy homes at Christmas, but they had no idea they would be running into the mini mastermind, Kevin McAlister.
Joe Pesci’s idea of the “silver tuna” in Home Alone was the home of the McAlister’s, a family they learned would be away on a trip to France during Christmas. Little did they know, one child named Kevin was left home alone and would fight them every step of the way as he protected his home from the bandits. Kevin put together a fiendish map to plant traps all over his ridiculously huge house to keep Joe Pesci’s Harry from entering while he was home alone.
During the sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the Wet Bandits escape from jail and would then become the Sticky Bandits, and would face off against Kevin once again, but this time in New York City. Their new scheme was to rob a toy store on Christmas Eve, walking away with thousands of dollars in cash. However, they underestimated Kevin’s ability to thwart their new plans as he wasn’t on his home turf, but he luckily found a way to defeat the bandits yet again with his superb ability to construct traps.
While celebrating the 30th anniversary of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Joe Pesci recently talked about injuries he sustained while filming Home Alone during the famous prank scene where Kevin sets Harry’s hat on fire. Pesci did have a stuntman to perform the heavy stunts, but as a physical comedy actor, he knows that bumps, bruises, and the like come with the job. The scene where Kevin sets Harry’s hat on fire with a blow torch resulted in Pesci sustaining some severe burns.
Joe Pesci fondly remembers Culkin as a sweet kid and, even at his young age, was very professional on the set of Home Alone. Pesci even kept his distance from Culkin so as not to form too close of a bond with him, allowing the on-screen dynamic between the characters to be authentic.
Known for the comedies Easy Money (1983) and Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Joe Pesci enjoyed the slapstick comedy of the Home Alone movies even though they were more physically demanding. Fans can view Home Alone 2: Lost in New York on Disney+ as part of the Happy Holidays collection this holiday season.
