Kate Hudson Sets the Record Straight About Her Involvement in Home Alone 2

Kate Hudson was just 13 years old when Home Alone 2: Lost in New York premiered, the perfect age to be part of the school choir alongside Macaulay Culkin's character, Kevin McAllister.

Despite joking about the small residuals she earns from her brief role in the 1992 sequel to the original Home Alone, Hudson has confirmed she does not actually appear in the choir scene. In that moment, Kevin hits his older brother Buzz, causing a cascade of children to fall and abruptly end the Christmas pageant.

"I’m not physically in the scene," Hudson explained on an upcoming episode of The Awardist podcast, according to Entertainment Weekly. "I contributed vocally on the soundtrack."

She continued, "I was one of the kids who recorded the singing in the studio."

The Almost Famous actress still receives some "two-cent residuals" from the project, and Home Alone 2 is listed as her first credit on IMDb, though marked as "uncredited."

Whether or not you can pick her out in the crowd, the soundtrack features iconic compositions by John Williams along with "My Christmas Tree," performed by The Home Alone Children’s Choir.

While the sequel often gets overlooked during the holiday season, Culkin himself has expressed a fondness for it, partly due to the financial benefits.

“I got paid more,” Culkin joked on an August episode of Hot Ones. “I own five percent of the net profits and 15 percent of the merchandising. So if you buy a Talkboy, I get a cut. Thanks! By the way, buy a Talkboy this Christmas.”

The Talkboy is the portable cassette player/recorder that Kevin uses for his adventures both at home and in New York City.

Since Home Alone 2 earned $359 million worldwide, it’s safe to say Culkin’s earnings are well beyond mere pennies.

Behind the Scenes and Fun Facts

For fans eager to uncover more about the Home Alone saga, here are some interesting tidbits:

1. The idea for Home Alone originated from director and writer John Hughes' own parental worries. His son, James Hughes, revealed in 2015 that John jotted the initial concept down just before a family trip to Europe in 1989, imagining what would happen if a child was accidentally left behind.

2. Macaulay Culkin doesn’t enjoy watching the film the way most viewers do. In 2018, he told Ellen DeGeneres that he often changes the channel when it airs, although he’ll sometimes watch it for others’ sake, quietly reciting his lines to himself.

3. Culkin reprised his role in a memorable 2018 Google commercial imagining Kevin as a tech-savvy adult.

4. Director Chris Columbus almost didn’t direct Home Alone due to a poor experience with Chevy Chase during a prior project, but John Hughes personally encouraged him to take the helm.

5. The film nearly fell through over a $700,000 budget dispute between Warner Bros. and the production team, but Joe Roth at 20th Century Fox stepped in to finance the project, which went on to gross over $476 million.

6. After auditioning more than 200 children, Columbus was confident that Culkin was the perfect choice for Kevin, especially since Hughes had already worked with him on Uncle Buck.

7. The iconic Wet Bandits duo, played by Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci, were already friends from a previous film where they had scenes cut.

8. Stern was passionate about the role and even asked for a second audition to ensure he got the part.

9. Off-screen, Pesci and Stern were far friendlier and softer towards Culkin than their characters suggested.

10. The stunts, including the infamous tarantula-to-the-face scene, were performed live, with Stern overcoming his fear for the shot.

11. The stunt team endured many dangerous moments during filming, with no CGI help, and are credited as unsung heroes by both Columbus and Stern.

12. The sound effects were created using creative methods, like a frozen roast beef to simulate a body hitting the floor.

13. Culkin still bears a small scar from being accidentally bitten by Pesci during rehearsals.

14. Comedy legend Chris Farley almost made his film debut in Home Alone but stumbled during his audition.

15. Other notable actors such as Robert De Niro, Jon Lovitz, and Kelsey Grammer declined various roles, shaping the cast we now know.