Macaulay Culkin recently disclosed a startling fact about the shooting of a film he participated in during his childhood.
Children’s movies often contain several disturbing or chilling scenes. Consider the harrowing events in “Watership Down,” where rabbits face terrifying fates, or the grim moment in “Chicken Run” when chickens witness one of their own being executed.
However, the 1991 film “My Girl,” starring Macaulay Culkin from “Home Alone,” presents a particularly grim demise for his character. The unsettling factor is heightened by the fact that the character is a young boy.
For those unaware, Culkin’s character, Thomas J, tragically dies after being attacked by a swarm of bees when he is just 10.
Culkin, who is now 45, has unveiled a shocking detail about how that scene was filmed.
Speaking on the “On Film…With Kevin McCarthy” podcast, Culkin revealed that they employed actual bees during the infamous scene.
“I was working with the bees,” Culkin stated.
He continued, “The way they did that, they wouldn’t do that today. They put this stuff on my fingertips that smells like the queen bee so [the bees] were actually attracted to my hands and I wasn’t a threat.”
“They actually released thousands of bees on me, imagine that! I’m not joking, those are real bees. That would not fly today.”
The filming process became even more intense when it came to making the scene appear dramatic.
“They just told me to wave my hands in front of my face so the bees can get in front of my face and it looks good for the camera,” Culkin shared.
There was a measure of precaution, as Culkin was advised to quickly distance himself from the bees between takes.
“As soon as they yelled ‘cut,’ I had to soap my hands in hot water and then dart into the woods,” he explained.
Culkin also recounted a piece of advice given by the bee handler, “The bee handler gave me a piece of advice, he said, ‘human beings run faster than bees fly’. I was like, ‘but I’m 10. How fast do you think I am?’” Culkin recalled with amusement.
The scene required four takes, and although Culkin wasn’t stung, he did experience a close call as his neck came into contact with a stinger, though it didn’t break off.
It may seem ironic to film a scene depicting a child being stung to death by releasing real bees upon a child, but fortunately, Culkin is around to recount the tale.