Joe Pesci avoided Macaulay Culkin on ‘Home Alone’ set

Joe Pesci has revealed that he intentionally avoided Macaulay Culkin on the set of Home Alone.

The Goodfellas actor appeared alongside the child star in the 1990 Christmas comedy and its 1992 sequel Lost In New York.

Pesci played Harry, one of the two robbers repeatedly thwarted by the young Kevin McCallister (Culkin). And to ensure their on-screen relationship remained sufficiently hostile, Pesci purposely kept his distance from Culkin when they weren’t filming.

“I remember Macaulay as being a really sweet kid and, even at his age, very professional,” Pesci said in a new interview with People, before adding that he “intentionally limited my interactions with him to preserve the dynamic between his character, Kevin, and my character Harry”.

Explaining the decision, the actor said that he didn’t want “it to come across on the screen that we were in any way friendly”.

He added: “I wanted to maintain the integrity of the adversarial relationship.”

Outside of Home Alone Pesci is best known for his film collaborations with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro including Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Casino and The Irishman. Some of his other top credits include the Lethal Weapon franchise and My Cousin Vinny.

Next year, the actor will appear in Pete Davidson’s new comedy series, Bupkis.

The Peacock series is loosely based on Davidson’s life, featuring a fictionalised version of the actor-comedian.

According to Variety Pesci has signed up to play Davidson’s grandfather in the series, joining Edie Falco (The Sopranos) who will play the comedian’s mother.

This is only Pesci’s second regular television role in his career after starring in NBC series Half Nelson in 1985.

Bupkis is set to be produced by Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels, with Dave Sirus and Judah Miller on co-writing duties.

The show is described as a “raw” and “unflinching” version of Davidson’s real life, which will include a “mixture of grounded storytelling with absurd elements”.

A release date for the series is yet to be announced.