Macaulay Culkin Shares Heartfelt Memories from Filming the Bee Scene in My Girl

Macaulay Culkin recently reminisced about the filming of one of his most emotional scenes in the classic 1991 film My Girl. During a podcast appearance on On Film… with Kevin McCarthy, the actor reflected on his experience shooting a pivotal scene involving a swarm of bees.

In My Girl, Culkin played Thomas Jay, a childhood friend of Vada Sultenfuss, portrayed by Anna Chlumsky. The scene in question sees Thomas tragically attacked by bees, leading to his death, an event that profoundly impacts Vada.

Culkin explained that real bees were used during the filming. “They put this stuff on my fingertips that smelled like the queen bee, so the bees were actually attracted to my hands,” he recalled. He noted the safe measures in place, saying, “I wasn’t a threat…they actually released thousands of bees on me.”

Reflecting on the filming process, he stated, “That would not fly today, boy howdy,” emphasizing how different filming standards are now. He humorously recounted being instructed to wave his hands to attract the bees for the camera, and despite being told not to touch anything, he unwittingly ended up attracting bees to his pants.

Culkin described shooting the scene as intense but rewarding, mentioning that it took four takes to complete. He managed to escape relatively unscathed, aside from a single bee stinger lodged in his neck, which he said, “didn’t have any venom.”

Additionally, Culkin shared memories of another scene where he and Chlumsky jumped into a lake. He recounted some alarming behind-the-scenes details about the wildlife in the area, specifically mentioning that trappers would catch venomous snakes and use them as bait for snapping turtles, which in turn were used to attract alligators. “What lake are we jumping into? Jeez, have you ever heard of a swimming pool or something?” he joked.

Culkin and Chlumsky’s friendship during filming also contributed to the film’s emotional weight. “She’s fun to work with because she’s a kid, and kids relate to kids better than they relate to adults,” Culkin noted in a past interview.

In a reflection on the film’s long-lasting impact, Chlumsky recalled, “We didn’t know how to put into words what we were doing back then. It took until I was in my 20s for me to realize it had such resonance,” highlighting the film’s significance to audiences over the years.