Macaulay Culkin recently told Gentleman’s Journal that part of the reason Catherine O’Hara’s death earlier this year hit him hard was because “I felt like I had unfinished business.” O’Hara played Culkin’s mother in the comedy classics Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Escape from New York, which together grossed more than $830 million worldwide.
“When Katherine passed away in January, it hit me hard. It hit me pretty hard because it happened so soon,” Culkin told the magazine. “I felt like we had unfinished business. I certainly feel like I had unfinished business with her. You know? I feel like I owe her. And I don’t like having unpaid debt.”
O’Hara passed away on January 30th at the age of 71 from a pulmonary embolism due to underlying rectal cancer. Her career spans more than 50 years, beginning on the Canadian sketch show “Second City Television” and continuing with classic films like “Home Alone” and “Beetlejuice” and award-winning television appearances on “Schitt’s Creek” and “The Studio.”
The movie Home Alone launched Culkin’s career and turned him into one of the biggest child stars of the 1990s. In December 2023, Culkin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and O’Hara gave a speech at the ceremony, and the two had a touching reunion.
“Macaulay was this beautiful, adorable 10-year-old boy who was known around the world as a superstar, a moneymaker, one of the hottest leading men in Hollywood. How could anyone survive that?” O’Hara said in her speech. “Well, Mr. Macaulay, I think you need certain qualities. The talent that dear (screenwriter and producer) John Hughes clearly recognized in you, Mr. Macaulay, is a sense of humor. That’s an expression of a child’s intelligence. And as far as I can tell, you’ve brought this sweet, twisted, yet totally relatable sense of humor to everything you decide to do since Home Alone.”
“Thank you for letting me, the fake mother who left you home not once but twice, participate in this happy occasion,” she concluded. “I’m so proud of you,” Culkin said, wiping away tears as the two hugged.
After O’Hara’s death, Culkin paid tribute to O’Hara on Instagram: “Mom, I thought I had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in the chair next to you. I listened, but there was so much I wanted to say. I love you. See you soon.”
