Home Alone's Catherine O'Hara Thinks the McCallisters Inherited Their Wealth — or Had Their Own Church (Exclusive)

The actress, who stars in new film ‘Argylle’, discusses the controversy surrounding the fictional family’s apparent wealth

Catherine O’Hara weighs in on apparent wealth Home alonePeter and Kate McCallister.

Last month, The New York Times released a report estimating that the family from the 1990 Christmas classic was among the top 1% of earners in Chicago, the metropolitan area where the film is set.

The news outlet worked with economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, who estimated that the McCallisters would have to earn about $305,000 (or $665,000 in 2022) to afford the house featured in the film.

The actual Winnetka, Illinois home used in the film has a current off-market value of about $2.34 million, according to Zillow.

“I thought the house was pretty amazing,” O’Hara, who played McCallister matriarch Kate, tells PEOPLE. “Oh God, yes.”

Catherine O’Hara.

Caitlin Cronenberg/Trunk Archive

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But Argyll the actress admits that she never thought too much about their income. “I was aware of how nice it was, but no, I never thought about their money. That’s not what I was thinking about when I was working [the movie]. Of course, they all went to Paris, didn’t they?” she says.

“I guess Peter had his own religion,” she jokes of her on-screen husband, played by the late John Heard. “The Church of the McCallisters.”

The house from “Home Alone”.

Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu Agency via Getty

“People have these theories,” she says. “Where did they get the money from? Maybe he inherited it…they inherited it.”

In the film, the McCallisters rush to leave their beautiful and grand home for a Christmas getaway to Paris when they inadvertently forget Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), one of their children.

20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

He defends the home against would-be thieves (played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) by setting various traps.

O’Hara says she didn’t foresee the film becoming a cultural phenomenon, but she had a blast making the film.

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“I have to worry about the whole thing. I don’t want to play a great role in a bad project. You want to be part of something good and so you go. Then the people you will work with and the experience, everyday experience. And in that case, it was nice. All those kids playing our kids were just wonderful,” she continues.

“[Director] Chris Columbus, a wonderful man,” she recalls. “He’s a family man himself. I think he already had five children at that time. AND [screenwriter] John Hughes. John Hughes wasn’t there much, but he obviously wrote such a beautiful script. It’s a perfect movie, isn’t it?”

For more on Catherine O’Hara, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.

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Source: HIS Education