Joe Pesci has shared the reason why he avoided Macaulay Culkin on the set of Home Alone.
The Academy-award-winning actor starred alongside a young Culkin in the popular Christmas movie.
The film follows Kevin McCallister, 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 enjoying time by himself, the little boy soon meets two burglars, Harold "Harry" Lyme, played by Pesci, and his partner-in-crime, Marvin "Marv" Murchins (Daniel Stern).
The now-81-year-old actor reflected on the iconic film in 2022, telling PEOPLE that he found Culkin to be "a really sweet kid and, even at his age, very professional".
However, he admitted that he deliberately limited his interactions with the child star between takes on set in order to "preserve the dynamic between his character, Kevin, and my character Harry".
The Goodfellas actor explained that he practiced his method acting so he could “maintain the integrity of the adversarial relationship," as he "didn’t want it to come across on the screen that we were in any way friendly".
In fact, Pesci's method went so far that it led to an unfortunate incident where he accidentally injured Culkin while filming the scene where he says to Kevin: "I’m gonna bite all your fingers off, one at a time".
The 44-year-old actor opened up about the filming incident on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 2004.
He revealed that Pesci bit his finger and "broke the skin," adding: "I still have the scar," while smiling at his finger.
The award-winning actor returned as Lyme in the flick's sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, alongside Stern.
Renowned for his serious roles in films like Raging Bull, and Lethal Weapon, Pesci made a surprising career choice by appearing in Home Alone.
He explained that he "wanted to play it for the kids because I never get to work for children...I thought ‘Home Alone’ was a great script," adding that it was his idea to play Lyme "like a cartoon character".
The actor's performance in the festive classic is a masterclass in comedic timing. He balanced humor and chaos, creating a scene-stealing character that delighted audiences of all ages.