NEED TO KNOW
- John Sweet had a small however memorable position in 1990’s Dwelling Alone
- The movie’s director reveals the inspiration for Sweet’s Gus Polinski character (which got here from a unique Sweet character!)
- John Sweet: I Like Me premieres on Amazon Prime on October 10
What a distinction a day makes.
It took lower than 24 hours for John Sweet to movie his total position in Dwelling Alone.
Within the new documentary John Sweet: I Like Me, the movie’s director remembers wanting The Nice Outdoor star for the position of Gus Polinski within the Christmas movie, however he knew Sweet’s time was restricted.
“I mentioned it could be a dream come true to get John to do that position, and for some cause, he was solely out there for at some point,” Dwelling Alone Director Chris Columbus mentioned within the documentary. “John got here in, first hour, and mentioned, ‘Take as a lot time as you want. It’s tremendous.’ And we took 23 hours.”
Sweet’s character in Dwelling Alone was impressed by certainly one of his earlier characters, Yosh Shmenge, a fictional polka participant on Canadian tv sketch comedy present SCTV. Columbus described Polinski as a “easy character.”
“But, [Candy] got here to the set with an intense backstory in his head. I by no means heard about it. I bought to study it in these 23 hours of capturing,” the director mentioned.
As Polinski, Sweet was the lead musician of the Kenosha Kickers and referred to himself because the “Polka King of the Midwest.” He was primarily paired with Catherine O’Hara for his scenes, a few of which befell at the back of a van.
“We had this small stage within the van, and John simply stored developing with concepts,” O’Hara mentioned within the documentary. “In the event you watch the film, there’s little or no of my enhancing, however John was so enjoyable.”
Sweet, who died at 43 after struggling a coronary heart assault in 1994, did not movie scenes with Macaulay Culkin within the movie, however the two starred collectively in 1989’s Uncle Buck.
“I believe he all the time had that actually nice intuition,” Culkin remembers within the new documentary.
The well-known baby actor went on to notice about Sweet, “I believe he noticed. Hear, even earlier than the wave crested and the Dwelling Alone stuff was occurring, it was not exhausting to see how troublesome my father was. It was no secret. He was already a monster.”
“Abruptly, the celebrity and the cash got here, and he turned an notorious monster,” Culkin continued. “He was already not a great man. I believe John was trying a bit side-eyed, like, ‘Is every little thing alright over there? You doing good? Good day? Every little thing’s alright? Every little thing good at residence? Alright.’ ”
Sweet was a “paternal” presence, Culkin famous.
“It does not occur that usually. It really occurred much less as time went on,” he says. “I want I bought extra of that in my life. It is necessary that I do not forget that. I keep in mind John caring when not lots of people did.”
John Sweet: I Like Me premieres on Amazon Prime on October 10.