One of the beloved child stars from the iconic Home Alone films, who largely disappeared from the Hollywood spotlight, has reemerged to deliver a poignant and heartfelt tribute to the late Catherine O'Hara. Hillary Wolf Saba, who portrayed Meghan, the sister of Macaulay Culkin's character Kevin McCallister in both the 1990 classic and its 1992 sequel, shared a touching throwback photograph of the cast. This included O'Hara, who tragically passed away on January 30 at the age of 71 in a Los Angeles hospital due to a pulmonary embolism.
A Touching Tribute from a Former Co-Star
'My onscreen mom was so good to all of us kids on the sets of Home Alone 1 & 2. She was sweet and she was hilarious! RIP Catherine O'Hara,' Saba wrote in her emotional social media post. Now a mother of two, Saba departed from the acting world shortly after the release of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. She subsequently redirected her focus towards athletics, specifically judo, where she competed at a national level before earning a coveted spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2000 Sydney Games.
Reflecting on Fond Memories and a Career Shift
Despite her significant career transition, Saba recently took to social media during the holiday season to reminisce about her time on the Home Alone set. 'I only use my IG account for highlighting the deserving rescue pups I volunteer with every week, but I’ll make an exception since it’s Home Alone season,' she explained. In a 2021 essay for Newsweek, she praised O'Hara as 'one of the best things about that movie set.'
She elaborated on her memories, stating, 'She was funny, great with kids, and just a wonderful person. I actually had a lot of fun filming the scene we did running through O'Hare airport, and that was because I was with Catherine.' Saba fondly recalled the overall atmosphere, noting, 'As a whole, my memories of Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York are that it was a very fun set. Between the McCallisters and the cousins, there were a lot of children, so it was a very kid-friendly environment.'
Behind-the-Scenes Anecdotes and Celebrity Encounters
On working with the young Macaulay Culkin, Saba remarked, 'He was a typical little boy having fun and his personality really shone through.' She also shared amusing behind-the-scenes stories from filming the sequel in Chicago, including visits to Navy Pier where she and Culkin would lip-sync to music videos, notably Michael Jackson's 'Black or White,' which featured Culkin himself.
'One day during filming in Chicago, a car with blacked-out windows drove up to the set, and I remember hearing somebody say, "Oh, there's a Michael Jackson lookalike here!" It was actually him,' Saba wrote. 'The whole situation was surreal and weird, it was like, "holy s***, that's Michael Jackson!" I'm not impressed by famous people often, but Michael Jackson was next level.'
Embracing Privacy and Athletic Excellence
Reflecting on her departure from Hollywood, Saba told Newsweek that stepping away from acting was comparatively easier than leaving her athletic career. 'I never wanted anyone to think that I considered myself really cool because I was in those movies, so I didn't really tell anybody I met. I was so private about it that it's almost like I didn't embrace the joy and the fun oddity of being in Home Alone movies.'
Her dedication to judo was nothing short of remarkable. Saba clinched victory at the 1994 World Junior Judo Championships in her weight class and went on to compete in the Olympic Games in both Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000, firmly establishing herself as one of America's premier judokas.
Widespread Tributes from the Home Alone Family
Like Saba, Macaulay Culkin also paid a moving tribute to the beloved actress, remembering her not merely as a co-star but as a maternal figure on set. Following the news of O'Hara's tragic passing, he led the tributes on Instagram with a heartfelt post. He shared a split image: one from the classic Home Alone film and another from a more recent reunion at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2023.
'Mama. I thought we had time. I wanted more. I wanted to sit in a chair next to you. I heard you. But I had so much more to say. I love you. I’ll see you later,' he wrote.
Director Chris Columbus expressed his profound grief in an Instagram post, describing himself as 'heartbroken.' 'Today we lost Catherine O'Hara. I'm stunned and heartbroken, along with the rest of the world,' he wrote. He added that he had long been an admirer of her comedic genius: 'I was an obsessive fan of Catherine's brilliant comedic work on SCTV and was thrilled when she agreed to play Kevin's Mom in Home Alone.'
Columbus went on to praise her indispensable performance, stating, 'What most people don't realize is that Catherine carries the weight of 50% of that film. The movie simply would not work without her extraordinary performance.' He continued, 'Catherine grounds the picture with a profound emotional depth. I will miss her greatly.' He found a small solace in imagining her reunited with fellow Home Alone co-star John Candy, who passed away in 1994: 'Yet there is a small sense of comfort, realizing that two of the finest human beings I've ever known, Catherine and John Candy, are together again, brilliantly improvising, making each other laugh.'
