Featured Image Credit: 20th Century Fox
Topics: Donald Trump, Christmas, Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin
Anish Vij
Topics: Donald Trump, Christmas, Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin
Award-winning director Chris Columbus has revealed the real reason why Donald Trump's cameo was kept in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
The 1992 sequel, watched around the world at Christmas time, sees Macaulay Culkin return as Kevin McCallister, who accidentally boards the wrong flight during a family trip to Florida.
He famously ends up in New York City, all on his own, with his father's credit card.
After checking in to the Plaza Hotel, owned by Donald Trump, Kevin yet again crosses paths with Harry and Marv (played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), who have freshly escaped from prison.
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The second movie also sees Catherine O’Hara and the late John Heard return as Kevin's parents, as well as Tim Curry and Rob Schneider, starring as hotel staff.
But perhaps the most memorable cameos of all time sees the future US President briefly encounter Kevin in the hallway of his hotel to give directions.
However, in a 2020 interview with Business Insider, the director claimed that Trump only let the crew film there if he could be included in the movie.
"Like most locations in New York City, you just pay a fee and you are allowed to shoot in that location," Columbus explained.
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"We approached The Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time, because we wanted to shoot in the lobby. We couldn’t rebuild The Plaza on a soundstage.
"Trump said OK. We paid the fee, but he also said, ‘The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie.’"
After keeping Trump's cameo in for the initial screenings, it was the reaction it got that made up Columbus' mind.
"When we screened it for the first time the oddest thing happened: People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen. So I said to my editor, ‘Leave him in the movie. It’s a moment for the audience,’" he added.
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Responding to claims that he 'bullied' his way into the movie, the politician took to his social media platform Truth Social to respond in 2023.
"They rented the Plaza hotel in New York, which I owned at the time. I was very busy, and didn’t want to do it. They were very nice, but above all, persistent," Trump insisted.
"I agreed, and the rest is history! That little cameo took off like a rocket and the movie was a big success, and still is, especially around Christmas time.
"People call me whenever it is aired."