Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis has disclosed that she personally urged film executives to place a trigger warning on the classic 1990s movie 'My Girl', fearing its emotional plot would traumatise a generation of young viewers.
A Plea to Protect Young Audiences
During an appearance on the US talk show The View on Tuesday 2 December 2025, the 67-year-old actor recounted how she took direct action while filming the hit 1991 family drama. Curtis revealed she called the president of marketing at Columbia Pictures to express her deep concerns about the film's promotional material.
"I said, 'Guys, you have a poster of the biggest star in the world, Macaulay Culkin, and this little girl laughing on the cover of the poster,'" Curtis told the co-hosts. She insisted they needed to add a notice, suggesting wording such as "issues of life and death explored in this film." Her fear was that the shocking death of Culkin's character would "freak out every child in America."
The Unheeded Warning and Lasting Impact
Despite her passionate appeal, the studio did not follow her advice. "They did not listen to me and the movie went on to be a big hit, so what did I know?" Curtis remarked with irony. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg interjected, "That’s not to say they didn’t freak the kids out," to which Curtis agreed, adding "I think today it would have had a warning label."
The scene in question features Culkin's character, 10-year-old Thomas J. Sennett, meeting a devastating end after being stung to death by bees. Culkin was already a global phenomenon from the Home Alone franchise. The film, co-starring Anna Chlumsky and Curtis herself as a funeral home makeup artist, was a major box office success, grossing $121 million and spawning a 1994 sequel.
Reflecting on a Beloved Classic
Curtis has been reminiscing about My Girl during the press tour for her new film, Ella McCay, which is set for release on 12 December. Earlier this week, she shared a nostalgic behind-the-scenes video on Instagram, featuring the cast singing a rendition of "My Girl" by The Temptations, which was originally a gift to the film's crew.
The actor's revelation highlights a shifting cultural perspective on content warnings and the emotional impact of family films, a conversation that has become significantly more prominent since the movie's original release over three decades ago.
