You know the movie by heart, you've seen all the interviews with the actors, you love ordering pizza with cheese – then this material about the comedy "Home Alone" might not surprise you, but it will definitely delight you. We invite you to dive behind the scenes and learn something new today about one of the main Christmas films.

John Hughes wrote the script for "Home Alone" in 9 days

John Hughes's son once wrote an article about how exactly his father came up with the idea for "Home Alone." One day, the Hughes family was planning to go on vacation to Europe, which caused John to have occasional bursts of nervousness. While making a list of necessities, he thought: "It would be good not to forget the kids. By the way, I wonder what my ten-year-old son would do if I left him home alone?"

Chris Columbus was supposed to direct the film "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase. He chose "Home Alone" instead

After the failure of the film "Heartbreak Hotel," Chris Columbus feared he would be left without work. Suddenly, in his mailbox appeared a script from the great and terrible John Hughes – a continuation of the vacation film series starring Chevy Chase. Almost immediately, a serious conflict arose between Columbus and Chase, and with a heavy heart, Chris gave up the director's chair. However, Hughes decided to give him a second chance and sent him two more of his scripts, one of which was destined to become the film "Home Alone."

The role of Harry was originally offered to Robert De Niro

It's quite funny, because this is already the second favorite actor of Martin Scorsese who is somehow connected to the project. In fact, neither Columbus nor his team think that Robert De Niro took this offer seriously. But the fact that Joe Pesci is still accosted on the street with questions specifically about the comedy "Home Alone," even in the presence of Scorsese himself, is extremely amusing.

Daniel Stern turned out to be too expensive an actor

Yes, indeed, Daniel Stern was the actor the studio simply could not afford financially. Moreover, it was so dire that another actor had already been invited for the role of Marv – but there was no chemistry between him and Pesci. Then Columbus went to the studio bosses, begging them to allow him to hire Stern. And he succeeded! And the chemistry between the actors is visible even to the naked eye – so it was all worth it.

The iconic scream scene of Kevin was an improvisation by Macaulay Culkin. Almost

Actually, the moment with the aftershave was always in the script – but it was Macaulay Culkin who started screaming on set without removing his hands from his cheeks, even though Columbus insisted that a more natural reaction would be to pull his hands away. In the end, despite the uproarious laughter of the entire crew, several more takes were shot that took Chris's wishes into account. Yet one of the editors, Raja Gosnell, decided to show Columbus the scene using the first take. And that's how it stayed in the final film.

John Candy received a smaller fee than the pizza delivery guy

Popular comedian John Candy spent only one day on set – almost all of his role was improvisation. In the end, it turned out that Candy received less for his role than Danny Warhol, who played the pizza delivery guy in the same film. Candy was dissatisfied with Fox's studio policy, about which he spoke unflatteringly during his next collaboration with Columbus, "Only the Lonely."

Columbus doesn't know why Kevin never touched the microwave macaroni

In an interview with Insider magazine, Chris Columbus was taken aback by the journalist's question: "Why did Kevin prepare himself a fancy microwave dinner right before Harry and Marv arrived, if he didn't even get to touch it?" Columbus speculated that they shot several versions of the scene that provided some explanation, but they have long been lost to oblivion.

The reunion of Old Man Marley with his granddaughter was invented by Columbus himself

Chris in no way claimed to be correcting John Hughes' work – moreover, all the humor, including visual humor, was written by John. For his part, Columbus slightly added words to Old Man Marley's monologue that took place in the church – specifically about Marley being afraid he won't see his granddaughter again. And the scene with the touching family reunion at the end was also invented by Chris, which he is still very proud of.

Many actually believed that "Angels with Filthy Souls" was a real film

At one time, Seth Rogen and Chris Evans admitted that they thought the film Kevin was watching ("Angels with Filthy Souls") was real. Columbus said that this effect might have been achieved by working with a system of arc lamps that affected the contrast of the black-and-white image, just like in old movies.

Donald Trump got a cameo in the second film by resorting to blackmail

Part of the filming of "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" was to take place in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel, which at the time was owned by Donald Trump. The future president approved the filming on one condition – that he also participate. The crew initially wanted to cut the scene with him from the film entirely, but the focus group at early screenings was delighted by his appearance, so Trump was kept in.

Which fact are you hearing for the first time? Share with us in the comments!