A star of the iconic Home Alone movies has revealed that a special clause in his contract earned him millions of dollars.
Home Alone has cemented its status as a much-loved Christmas movie, bringing joy to audiences year after year.
The film follows Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin), an eight-year-old boy who finds himself unexpectedly alone at home when his family accidentally leaves him behind during their Christmas vacation to Paris.
While initially relishing time by himself, the little boy soon meets two burglars, Marvin "Marv" Murchins (Daniel Stern) and Harold "Harry" Lyme (Joe Pesci).
Kevin cleverly outwits the intruders, who call themselves the Wet Bandits, with a series of elaborate traps.
Both Stern and Pesci also appear in the flick's sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Stern, now 67, has shared that he almost didn't star in the Home Alone (1990) film after the filming process was increased from six weeks to eight, but the $300,000 paycheck remained the same.
That led the actor to “one of the stupidest decisions in my show business life” - which was quitting the movie, as revealed in his new memo Home and Alone, cited by Cracked.
But thankfully, he was called back by producers after they failed to find a suitable replacement, and they made a promise to "honor the original contract and make the schedule six weeks".
The City Slickers star's return to the franchise proved to be a wise decision, as the movie grossed a staggering $500 million worldwide.
Following the first movie's success, it is no surprise that everybody involved was keen for a sequel.
Initially, Stern was offered $600,000 to return, but wasn't happy with this figure after learning that Pesci was reportedly earning $3 million for the role, Marca reported.
As a result, Stern negotiated a better deal for the sequel, securing $1.5 million and an additional 2% share of the gross profits.
"I knew they couldn't do the movie without me, but I was also insecure, since I almost blew it the first time," he said, per Too Fab. "I didn't want to be too greedy when I loved the movie and the part so much."
Years later, the Breaking Away actor swapped his career in Hollywood for country life as he now lives on a farm and is a cattle rancher and sculptor.
On his website, he explained the decision behind his career change, writing: "When I was a kid, I was a terrible student but I excelled in all things artistic - theater, choir, band, woodshed, metal shop, ceramics, and sculpture."
"I dropped out of high school when I was seventeen and moved to New York to become an actor. I got married and was a father by the time I was 23, and obviously had to just focus on my show business career."
"I did a lot of great movies but there came a point where I missed being away from my family. I decided to stop traveling so much, stay home, and focus on my family and my other artistic passions," he continued. "The result of that decision is that I have a wonderful family life and this body of work."
Stern now uses TikTok to share regular posts about his day-to-day life with his 88,000 followers.