Home Alone’s Daniel Stern Shares SECRETS From Behind the Scenes! _ ET Then and Now
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00:00I mean, people are fascinated by it.
00:02Was that a real spider on your face?
00:04What's Joe Pesci really like?
00:07Did it hurt when you got hit in the face
00:09with the, you know, the paint can?
00:13Heads up!
00:14Huh?
00:15Oh!
00:15Ah!
00:17What is it about that movie
00:19that's really just made it the ultimate holiday classic?
00:22I think it's the kid.
00:24I mean, there's so much heart in it.
00:25It's so funny.
00:26You know, I think we're really funny
00:28and candy and all this stuff.
00:30I mean, and it's got a great holiday,
00:32Christmassy feel to it.
00:33But I think the thing that really stands out
00:35is the kid getting us.
00:38Everybody wants that kid to win.
00:41It's a kid empowerment movie.
00:43Oh my God!
00:49Ah!
00:51I was kind of in a groove at that point
00:54of doing crazy things.
00:55So when I showed up on the set to do the spider thing,
00:59I thought, all right, this is going to be, you know,
01:00let's see what happens.
01:01And I'm sure they're going to have a great prop spider.
01:05And, but they didn't.
01:06They had a real spider that they, you know,
01:08the wrangler told me, he's not going to bite you.
01:11You'll be fine.
01:12So I went, you know, okay, do it.
01:14So they put the spider on me and just,
01:16I let him crawl around on my face for about five minutes,
01:19just so we both got used to each other.
01:21And then, then we just rolled the camera
01:24and every time, you know, he'd be over here
01:27and that's not in the shot.
01:28I'd kind of have to wait until he got to the right spot.
01:31And then I'd, you know, do whatever the heck I do in it,
01:34scream and I get to hit Joe Pesci with a crowbar.
01:37So that was fun too.
01:39Marv, what are you doing?
01:41Marv.
01:42Hi!
01:43Jeez!
01:45I got to do everybody's fantasy,
01:47which is be in a cartoon.
01:50Everybody watches cartoons.
01:51I got to be in one with real props and real stuff
01:55and be a cartoon character inside that.
01:58So that's a once in a lifetime.
02:00And I think the kids love the power that that kid has
02:03and the parents love seeing the kid have that power.
02:06I just think that everybody's going to be okay
02:08kind of message is the right message
02:11at this time of the year.
02:21I mean, I think it's big frigging laughs
02:23and I had a blast and Joe had a blast
02:26being as silly as possible.
02:27And John Hughes wrote a brilliant script
02:29and Chris shot it and the score
02:31and everything comes together
02:32and just the family laughing together.
02:35You know, it could be just as simple as that.
02:43I'm going to kill that kid!
02:45Macaulay recently did a Q&A where he talked about
02:49Joe Pesci accidentally bit his finger in real life
02:52and scarred it.
02:53I totally forgot about that.
02:54Yeah, I think Joe bit, like he was,
02:56I mean, Joe was, Joe is, he's wonderful.
02:59I love, I mean, he's a dear friend,
03:01but he's a scary dude, you know?
03:02And he was putting all that, you know,
03:04he was carrying it all because he was,
03:06I mean, we were trying in the first movie
03:08to try to actually be scary to start with.
03:12And then you realize we're idiots,
03:14but you know, there was a fear factor
03:16that set up the drama of the thing.
03:19Yeah, I think he did bite it.
03:20He was biting his finger and then he bit it.
03:23And it was like, oh crap, I didn't really mean to.
03:25Joe was like, oh, sorry I did that.
03:27But only time you might see Pesci break, you know.
03:31Everybody had their own little thing we were doing.
03:34I was being my goofy guy,
03:36Joe was being the cartoon figure he was,
03:39a really fun comedy duo.
03:40And so we just had a blast.
03:43Why did you decide the time was now
03:46to write this book about your life and career?
03:48Yeah, I mean, because there was so much,
03:51so much good stuff in my life.
03:53You know, I've got the farms and I've got my art
03:56and I've got my wife.
03:57I didn't even intend to write it.
03:58I just made a list.
03:59And so I took a couple of those stories just for me
04:02and like said, oh yeah, you know,
04:04I said, I'm writing this for the grandkids
04:06and the great grandkids.
04:07If they ever see Home Alone,
04:08if Home Alone's still playing in 50 years when I'm gone,
04:12like who's, that's grandpa or that's great grandpa.
04:15Like I want them to know the story of my wife and I,
04:18like how this happened.
04:20Because it's really our story,
04:21man, I've been married to her for 45 years.
04:24So it was like, fill in the chapter.
04:25And then I went, oh, you know, that could kind of be a book.
04:28So I wrote the, I wrote it
04:29and then I sort of showed it to my agent
04:31and then it was like, that could be a book.
04:33And how do I communicate it?
04:35So it kind of grew organically from that.
04:38And then, you know, it was again,
04:41like a beautiful artistic experience for me.
04:44I just spent that time writing
04:46and I didn't have to have a studio tell me anything
04:49or get cast or audition.
04:51You know, it's just like, it's a piece of art itself.
04:54It's what it is.
04:55And actually, and the capper for me
04:58was one of the things about the book
05:00was about my volunteer work with the Boys and Girls Club.
05:04And so all the money from the book
05:07goes to the Boys and Girls Club.
05:09You know, it's like, you know, I just wrote it.
05:10I want people to buy it.
05:12I think it's a good story.
05:13I think it's funny.
05:14And all the money goes to the Boys and Girls Club.
05:17So it ends up kind of a perfect little thing for me
05:21and a good stocking stuffer.
05:23Here's our tangerines.
05:25There's my bucket right there.
05:28Why do you think people get so surprised
05:30when they see you in your, this is really your elements.
05:33Why do you think people get surprised
05:35when they see you in your element
05:37and, you know, away from the big screen?
05:39The social media thing is interesting
05:41in that it's much more intimate, much more me.
05:45And, you know, and I can do silly things on it.
05:47The tangerines were here when I got here.
05:50I love the piece of property and we love the house
05:52and like the whole thing.
05:53We've got pickers and growers
05:56and we're job creators that way.
05:59You know, it's wonderful to see it.
06:01We give a portion of it to food banks and stuff like that.
06:06So it's a wonderful life.
06:07And just for me personally, I need the solitude myself.
06:11I'm just, I just need the solitude.
06:14And I've got it.
06:16It's a matter of just putting a tiny,
06:19a lot of tiny little pieces like that all over the dress.
06:24I'm going to be doing this for about four days.
06:27And I love, I love creating, you know,
06:31and they talk about creators on social media.
06:34And, you know, that makes sense to me.
06:38I created a book.
06:39I create a sculpture.
06:40I create a character.
06:41I create a script.
06:43You know, making stuff out of nothing.
06:45That's what humans can do.
06:48And it's so fun on the social media thing
06:51to watch all these creators.
06:53They got a story to tell.
06:54Another story, another story.
06:56I never thought of that.
06:57I never thought I could, you know, do that
06:59or somebody could do that and that and that and that.
07:02And so, you know, I just going to be,
07:04play my part in those things.
07:07I'm going to, you know, stay healthy,
07:10teach my grandkids everything I know,
07:15give back, you know,
07:16and that's what I love about the season also.
07:18You know, this is the time.
07:20My son said, dad, you're like a seasonal superstar.
07:23It comes around every year and then it's like,
07:26and the message is, so if it's my turn,
07:29giving back, give, give, give.
07:31This is the season of giving and give your love
07:34and give gifts and give to people.
07:36And, you know, that's what I love about this time.
07:38And if I'm a little part of people's holiday time,
07:42I'm honored and humbled.