Catherine O’Hara was iconic in the first two Home Alone films (Picture: 20th Century)

Home Alone has gone down in history as one of the best Christmas films to grace the big screen, with the Lost in New York sequel also beloved by many.

Although Macaulay Culkin stole the show as the wayward Kevin McCallister – who was left to fend for himself when his family accidentally left him at home and jetted off to Paris – Catherine O’Hara was a firm favorite with fans for her stint as his mom.

She may have appeared in many, many other roles over the years, including Schitt’s Creek, Best In Show and Beetlejuice, it is Kate McCallister that she’s mostly recognized for, even three decades on.

However, it turns out that the 68-year-old wasn’t actually the first actress chosen for the role.

Yes, seriously.

Cinematographer Julio Macat, who worked on the original Home Alone, spoke to Metro.co.uk for the 30-year anniversary when he dropped the huge bombshell, explaining that his partner, actress Elizabeth Perkins, was initially in the frame.

Catherine wasn’t the first choice to play Kevin’s mom (Picture: 20th Century)

Could you imagine anyone else in the role? (Picture: 20th Century)

‘My wife, Elizabeth Perkins, had a similar situation where she worked on a movie that also was very special,’ he told us. ‘You know the movie, Big? She was the girlfriend, Susan.

‘We hadn’t met yet, and she filmed that movie almost a year before Home Alone.

‘John Hughes asked her to be the Catherine O’Hara role, and she wasn’t able to do it, she was busy.

Elizabeth Perkins was initially asked to come on board (Picture: 20th Century)

‘But we would have met… We met on a movie called Miracle On 34th Street, so we would have met four or five years before. We met on the movie and we fell in love.’

Julio and Elizabeth eventually worked together on the festive flick, which was released in 1994, and went on to tie the knot in 2000.

Home Alone first debuted in 1990, but secrets from the set are still being uncovered, with a new Sky documentary spilling the beans on the behind-the-scenes action.

In The Unofficial Science Of Home Alone, Daniel Stern, who played Marv, one half of the Wet Bandits along with Joe Pesci’s Harry, revealed that his co-star took the role incredibly seriously.

Speaking to Alex Brooker, he claimed that the Goodfellas star really did want to make sure Macaulay was scared out of his mind in the film and did his best to intimidate the youngster, who was just 10 years old at the time.

Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern starred as the wet (and then sticky) bandits (Picture: 20th Century)

‘I heard somewhere that on set Joe genuinely wanted Macauley Culkin to be intimidated by him and so would act intimidating,’ the comedian probed.

‘Joe wanted everyone to be intimidated by him, that wasn’t just of Mac,’ he replied.

‘But yeah, I think Joe… he wanted Mac to be scared of him. I think he wanted everyone to be scared of him. And he still is scary.’

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‘We were classic characters in a certain way,’ he added of his chemistry with Joe.

‘The friendship was fun, the movie was fun, the silliness we both approached in our own way that was comfortable for each of us, and the chemistry clicked.’

Home Alone is available to stream on Disney+ now.

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