Newly surfaced casting memos show “Home Alone” once flirted with a very different lineup, including Susan Sarandon as Kevin McCallister’s mother and Tim Curry as one half of the film’s bungling burglars. The documents came to public attention this weekend after Louise Hilton, a librarian at the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library, walked viewers through casting-company material in a TikTok posted by the Academy Museum ahead of a repertory screening of the 1990 hit at the museum’s David Geffen Theater.
Hilton said the file includes “memos for the shortlists” of finalists, offering a snapshot of how the production weighed star power against comic chemistry. For Kate McCallister, the notes flagged Sarandon and Kirstie Alley before the role went to Catherine O’Hara. For the neighbor who later becomes Kevin’s unexpected ally, the memo cited Jimmy Stewart, with Hilton saying Stewart’s agent expressed interest and that he was available before the film cast Roberts Blossom. One memo also argued the story could play with an older Harry and younger Marv, then floated Curry paired with Daniel Stern as “an exciting pair.” Joe Pesci appeared as “offer only,” a label that signaled the team expected no audition.
Earlier reporting from the filmmakers lines up with that paper trail. In a 2020 interview, director Chris Columbus said the production discussed Robert De Niro for Harry, then landed on Pesci, a choice he said stunned him at the time. Columbus also recalled studio resistance to Stern’s price tag and said he pushed to restore Stern after a screen test with another actor produced “no chemistry.”
The memos underline how close the film came to a different tone before settling into the cast that carried it to long-running holiday ubiquity. Curry later joined the franchise in “Home Alone 2,” a neat footnote now resurfacing as the series keeps generating talk of reboots. Columbus has said he views another sequel as a mistake and wants the original films left as they are.
