Joe Pesci reflected on the 30-year anniversary of the Christmas classic “Home Alone,” and revealed he sustained a serious injury while Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) tormented his character, Harry.
“In addition to the expected bumps, bruises, and general pains that you would associate with that particular type of physical humor, I did sustain serious burns to the top of my head during the scene where Harry’s hat is set on fire,” Pesci told People during an email interview.
🔔 | Joe Pesci opens up on the damage Home Alone stunts did to him
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Fans of the movie know that Pesci’s character takes a real beating while trying to rob Kevin’s home alongside Daniel Stern, who plays Marv. Together, Harry and Marv are known as the “Wet Bandits,” a name that stems from Marv’s signature habit of clogging the sinks and running the taps in each home they burglarize.
Pesci enacted truly epic scenes, including a terrible fall on icy stairs, being hit with a crowbar across the chest in the scene with the spider and of course, the infamous fire scene, which was apparently a truly horrific one for the actor. (RELATED: Candace Cameron Bure Wants To Put ‘Christ’ Back Into Center Of Christmas)
In that scene, Pesci bursts through the door of the McCallisters’ home after having the letter “M” branded onto his hand by the iron-hot doorknob. He unknowingly walks into a trap and within seconds, a blowtorch sets his hat and head on fire.
Pesci revealed he did the stunt work for that memorable scene on his own, but said professional stunt doubles performed his more intense stunts, according to People.