Washington, April 15: Director Chris Columbus has once again expressed his regret over including former US President Donald Trump in a cameo role in the 1992 holiday classic Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Speaking to Deadline, Columbus candidly admitted that the seven-second appearance has become “a curse” and something he now wishes he could erase.
“It’s become this curse. It’s become this thing that I wish it was not there,” Columbus said, adding, “It’s become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone.”
Despite his desire to remove the cameo, Columbus joked that cutting Trump from the film could have serious consequences. “I can’t cut it. If I cut it, I’ll probably be sent out of the country. I’ll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States, so I’ll have to go back to Italy or something,” said the filmmaker, who has Italian ancestry.
This isn’t the first time Columbus has spoken about the controversial cameo. In a 2020 interview, he revealed that Trump only allowed the production to film at New York’s Plaza Hotel—then owned by him—if he was given a part in the film. “When we screened it for the first time, the oddest thing happened: People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen. So I said to my editor, ‘Leave him in the movie. It’s a moment for the audience,’” Columbus recalled.
Trump, on the other hand, previously claimed that Columbus had begged him for the cameo—an assertion the director strongly denies. “There’s no world I would ever beg a non-actor to be in a movie. But we were desperate to get the Plaza Hotel,” Columbus clarified.
Home Alone 2, the sequel to the 1990 blockbuster, follows young Kevin McCallister as he navigates the streets of New York City while once again outwitting the Wet Bandits. Trump’s cameo takes place in the Plaza Hotel lobby, where he briefly directs Kevin to the lobby desk.