Macaulay Culkin Reflects on His Early Acting Days

Macaulay Culkin’s entrance into Hollywood was anything but ordinary, and looking back, he feels a bit astonished by it all.

The actor, who was just a child during the filming of iconic movies like *Uncle Buck* and *Home Alone*, recently shared some of his more unusual experiences from his youth on screen. He remarked that several challenges he faced back then seem out of place in today’s industry.

During an appearance on the podcast *On Film…with Kevin McCarthy*, Culkin was reminiscing about the 1991 film *My Girl*. In it, his character, Thomas J. Sennett, suffers a fatal allergic reaction from bee stings. While he wasn’t particularly affected by the storyline itself, the way they handled the bees left a lasting impression.

“The way they do it, they wouldn’t do that today,” he explained. “They put something on my fingertips that smelled like a queen bee. So they attracted the bees to my hand, making me seem less of a threat… and then they released thousands of bees on me. Can you imagine that?”

He added, “That was a real freaking bee. Now it can’t fly, man.”

Culkin was directed to wave his hands in front of his face to create a dramatic effect for the camera. “They thought it would look good,” he mentioned.

After filming that scene, he recounted how he was advised to wash his hands and head into the woods to avoid more bees. “A beekeeping expert told me, ‘A man can run faster than a bee can fly.’ But I was just 10! How fast do you think I was?” he said with a laugh.

Despite the chaos, he noted they filmed four takes, and fortunately, he was never stung.

Culkin also discussed a scene where his character and Vada, played by Anna Chlumsky, plunge into a lake. He recalled seeing trappers on set, later learning they had caught a poisonous snake to bait snapping turtles and alligators in the area. “What lake are we jumping into? Did anyone consider a pool or something?” he joked. “They’re throwing bees at me, and there are alligators everywhere… like I said, some of them can’t fly now.”