People Are Only Just Realizing Who Plays The Cop In ‘Home Alone’

People Are Only Just Realizing Who Plays The Cop In ‘Home Alone’ 20th Century Fox

“Home Alone” is a must-watch classic when the holidays come around. For many of us who grew up in the ’90s, it’s so familiar from hundreds of viewings that we know pretty much every detail and can recite most lines by heart. However, some people missed out on a really crucial part of the story. Shockingly, not everyone realized Joe Pesci didn’t just play one of the Wet Bandits but was also the cop at the beginning of “Home Alone” too.

  1. The “cop” comes by the McAllisters’ house before Christmas. He interacts with all the cousins and aunts and uncles, trying to find the owner of the home. He eventually does get to chat with Mr. McAllister, who openly informs him that the entire family is hightailing it to Paris for Christmas and won’t be around. Good to know — he’ll use that to rob you blind in just a few days. He’ll try, at least.
  2. How do people not realize the police officer is actually Harry, the robber? While pretty much everyone knows Joe Pesci is in Home Alone as one of the Wet Bandits, oddly enough, not everyone realized he was the cop at the beginning. It seems pretty obvious to those who knew it, but there are a lot of people who just never noticed.
  3. His identity isn’t exactly hidden. It’s not as if Harry wore a disguise at the beginning of the movie. He simply got a hold of a police officer’s uniform and started going door to door. It’s actually a clever plot point since it proves a lot of planning went into the Wet Bandits deciding which houses to rob. Harry cased them all to see what was worth stealing. Duh!
  4. The number of people who didn’t know this is staggering. A quick search on Twitter brings up dozens of tweets by viewers who were literally flabbergasted to see Joe Pesci turn up in two different roles in “Home Alone.” One person even insinuated it was lazy casting and that the studio was trying to get one over on the audience. Say what?!

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
close-link
close-link
close-link
close-link