‘I thought we had time’

Macaulay Culkin is paying tribute to his onscreen mom and close friend Catherine O’Hara after her death.

The actor took to Instagram shortly after news of O’Hara’s death broke, sharing a collage featuring two photos of him and the late actress: one from their 1990 hit film Home Alone and their reunion at Culkin’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in December 2023.

“Mama. I thought we had time,” Culkin captioned his sorrowful post. “I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say.”

He signed off with a sweet message to the late actress, writing, “I love you. I’ll see you later.”

The legendary actress, 71, died Friday at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness, her manager confirmed to Entertainment Weekly. A private celebration of life will be held by the family at a later date.

Culkin and O’Hara’s offscreen relationship grew and evolved in the years since they played Kevin and Kate McCallister in Chris Columbus and John Hughes‘ Christmas classic and its 1992 sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. So much so that the Canadian comedienne took to the podium to dedicate a speech to her former costar during his star ceremony.

“Home Alone was, is, and always will be a beloved global sensation,” O’Hara began her speech. “The reason families all over the world can’t let a year go by without watching and loving Home Alone together is because of Macaulay Culkin.”

Yes, Culkin had the “most excellent script” and “wonderful director,” but it was his “perfect performance” that has made it such an enduring classic, O’Hara continued. “I know you worked really hard, but you made acting look like the most natural thing in the world to do.” She later added, “This beautiful 10-year-old little boy was called a superstar, a moneymaker, one of the hottest leading young men in Hollywood. How does anyone survive that?”

“I believe you’d have to possess a certain quality,” O’Hara said. “A gift that dear John Hughes obviously recognized in Macaulay.” Of his sense of humor, “It’s a sign of intelligence in a child and a key to survival at any age,” she added. “You have brought that sense of sweet yet twisted, yet totally relatable, sense of humor to everything you have chosen to do since Home Alone.“

O’Hara concluded her speech by thanking Culkin for including her, “your fake mom that left you home alone not once but twice,” to “share in this happy occasion.” After sharing a hug, Culkin wiped away tears.

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O’Hara is survived by her husband, production designer Bo Welch, whom she met on the set of Beetlejuice, and sons Matthew and Luke, along with siblings Michael O’Hara, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Maureen Jolley, Marcus O’Hara, Tom O’Hara, and Patricia Wallice.

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