Macaulay Culkin Reveals New Details About ‘My Girl’ Bee Scene

Macaulay Culkin is one of the most notorious child actors in cinema history, thanks to films like Home Alone, Uncle Buck, and Richie Rich. However, Culkin has shared some shocking details about his beloved 1991 classic My Girl, in which he played Thomas alongside Anna Chlumsky’s protagonist, Vada.

The plot of My Girl sees Vada as a death-obsessed child, with her character forced to face it head-on when her best friend Thomas dies. Audiences who have seen My Girl remember the emotional impact of Thomas’ death, but the harrowing nature of his demise is also well known, as the bee scene is regularly mentioned in conjunction with the film. The moment shows Thomas being attacked by a swarm of bees, with Culkin looking in dire peril. Yet, it seems, in its effort to add authenticity to the scene, the production crossed a line, with the actor now saying, “That would not fly today.”

While appearing on the podcast On Film … with Kevin McCarthy, Culkin opened up about filming My Girl’s infamous bee scene. According to the Home Alone star, the movie used “real freakin’ bees,” and while only being 10 years old at the time, he says, “They actually released thousands of bees on me.” Culkin states that they put a substance on his finger that attracted the bees, and despite being told, “I wasn’t a threat,” the young actor had one close call when he was almost stung. To film the scene, the young Uncle Buck star was given rough directions, leading to a potentially traumatic experience:

“They just told me to wave my hands in front of my face, so the bees would get in front of my face, for the camera and all that stuff.”

Macaulay Culkin Had a Harrowing Early Career

If the potentially irresponsible nature of filming My Girl’s bee death scene wasn’t harsh enough, Culkin also discussed the lake he and Chlumsky had to jump into for the movie. While detailing the wildlife the production contended with, and callously dispatched, the actor doubled down, “Like I said, some of that stuff wouldn’t fly nowadays.”

“They had these trappers. … What they would do is, they would catch the water moccasins, these snakes that were poisonous. They would catch the water moccasins and then cut them into pieces, and they’d use that as bait for the snapping turtles. Then they would take the snapping turtles, cut them up, and use them as bait for the alligators. And I’m just like, ‘What lake are we jumping into? Jeez, have you ever heard of a swimming pool or something?'”

Beyond the production of My Girl, Culkin’s history with his father would later come to light. Kit Culkin was using his son like a workhorse, running the young actor through movie after movie, and becoming a nightmare for the studios during negotiations as his fame grew. While Culkin continues to act, with his voice currently featured in Zootopia 2, fans note a lull in his career following his 1997 emancipation, with experiences like those from My Girl fueling his family turmoil.