There was no on-screen relationship in Hollywood quite as iconic as that between Macaulay Culkin and Catherine O’Hara in the Home Alone films. Several months after O’Hara passed away at the age of 71 in January 2026, Culkin opened up about their close bond and admitted that he still feels a sense of “unfinished business” after her passing. The beloved actress, who was known for classics such as Schitt’s Creek and Beetlejuice, was reportedly diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, with rectal cancer as an underlying condition. 

Now, Culkin is opening up about the grief, memories, and emotional connection he still carries from their years working together. 

Macaulay Culkin is thinking back on his on-screen mother. The Richie Rich star looked back at the passing of Catherine O'Hara, the comedy icon who was the mother of his character Kevin McCallister in the first two Home Alone movies. During a recent interview with Gentleman's Journal, Culkin expressed how her passing has left him in a very personal debt.

"I wish I had more time with O'Hara. When Catherine passed away in January, that hit me. That hit me pretty good, 'cause, you know, it was just too soon. And I felt that we had unfinished business,” he told the outlet.

“I definitely feel like I had unfinished business with her, you know? "I feel like I owed her a favor — and I don't like having an outstanding debt,” he deeply expressed. 

Culkin also wrote a heartfelt tribute to his former co-star soon after her death. In a social media post, he shared two photos. One of them was their Home Alone characters hugging, and a more recent photo of himself and O’Hara in the same pose, many years later. 

"Mama. I thought we had time," he wrote on Instagram. "I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say." 

For context, in Home Alone, Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, is a clever and mischievous young boy. He is accidentally left at home when his family flies off to Paris for Christmas. Catherine O'Hara played his mother, Kate McCallister, a character whose desperate trek to get back to her son became one of the emotional anchors of the movie. 

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Years before O’Hara’s passing, the Home Alone franchise had already lost another key member of the McCallister family. 

John Heard, Macaulay Culkin’s other Home Alone parent, died in 2017. He died at age 71 in Palo Alto, California, of a heart attack following a back surgery. Best known for his role as Peter McCallister in Home Alone, he was a prolific character actor, appearing in The Sopranos, Big, and Cutter's Way. 

“I’m not the tip of the sphere,” Culkin said during the same interview recently. “I’m the caboose. I’m bringing up some of that old Hollywood guard kind of thing — I’m going to be one of the last people standing when it comes to that kind of stuff.” 

Catherine O’Hara’s death marked the loss of one of Hollywood’s most beloved comedic and dramatic performers. Macaulay Culkin not only lost a former co-star but also a person who helped shape one of the most important chapters of his life and career. Their chemistry in Home Alone remains unforgettable for audiences, keeping O’Hara’s legacy alive through one of cinema’s most beloved family classics. 

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Will the emotional bond between Macaulay Culkin and Catherine O’Hara in Home Alone ever be matched in another holiday classic? Let us know in the comments.