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The original Home Alone and Home Alone 2 movie dilogy has become an undisputed Christmas movie classic. But have you ever wondered what Kevin McCallister’s parents had to do to afford such a huge house, a bunch of kids, and vacations?

The Hollywood Reporter has put an end to this question. The journalists invited the director of Home Alone, Chris Columbus, to their podcast. Mostly to talk about his new work, the horror movie Nosferatu, which he produced. But on Christmas Day, questions about Kevin McCallister’s adventure films were inevitable.

According to Columbus, after several box office failures, he planned to make a Christmas movie with the then-popular comedian Chevy Chase. However, that project didn’t work out so well that it didn’t even make it from filming to post-production.

Screenwriter and producer John Hughes, with whom Columbus worked, sent him the next script for a holiday movie to console his friend. It was the script for the first part of Home Alone. The screenwriter was immediately determined to cast the young actor Makolei Kalkin in the lead role. Columbus tried to look for other options and auditioned 300 more children, but eventually returned to the option proposed by Hughes. As we now know, it was the perfect choice.

Columbus has also weighed in on one of the most controversial debates on the Internet. For more than 30 years, users have been trying to figure out what the McCallister parents could have done to afford such a luxurious life in the very expensive Chicago.

According to the director, the mother of the family, Kate McCallister, played brilliantly by Catherine O’Hara, was a very successful fashion designer. This is hinted at by the numerous mannequins that were kept in the basement of the family home. Kevin wittily used them to simulate a Christmas party at his home.

As for Peter McCallister (played by John Heard), Columbus could not recall his exact profession. “My father might have worked in advertising, based on John Hughes’ own experience, but I don’t remember what he did,” Columbus said.

But one thing he ruled out for sure was that Peter was definitely not involved in the organized crime that was rampant in Chicago at the time. Although some fan theories suggest so. In particular, that it was the father of the family who led the robbers Harry and Marv to his house.