But clearly Buzz is something that is going to stay with me.” “I am very privileged to have continued to act as my only profession and luckily I am able to continue to do interesting and different roles that aren’t just Buzz. It’s a CV that demonstrates he’s never ended up typecast as a result of Buzz McCallister, even if it has had its ups and downs. Ratray might not have enjoyed the same level of stardom but he’s continued to work steadily, popping up on TV procedurals like Blue Bloods, Law & Order Special Victims Unit and Elementary as well as in meatier roles on underrated shows like Mosaic and The Tick.Īlongside that has come film roles in critically-acclaimed fare like Nebraska and Blue Ruin. The Home Alone movies changed Culkin’s life, catapulting him to superstardom and staggering $8 million pay checks for the movies Getting Even With Dad and Richie Rich. I wish I could have spent more time with him.” Working for him was an absolute honour and seeing what a great guy he was. “I found him to be such a warm and caring and humorous guy. One person he does regret not interacting with on the film is John Hughes though Ratray was fortunate enough to later be cast in another of his movies, the Home Alone-esque Dennis The Menace. ![]() “I had to be like ’No, Mr Pesci, I’m going in to get the buzz.’ Then he was still there when I came out with the fresh buzz cut and was like ‘look at that, they got you too! Let me see it’ and ribbed me a little for us both having to shave our heads.” “He was outside the makeup trailer once as I was going in with the long hair and he said ‘What? They’re letting you keep that? They’re letting you keep your hair like that? They had to shave mine!’” Joe Pesci, at the time, had a massive, almost pompadour style thick head of hair and they shaved him bald for the movie. So, initially I had this long, shoulder length hair. “I let my hair grow out after Home Alone. However, if filming resumed within 20 minutes, none of that lesson time would count towards the required three hours of schooling a day. Occasionally, if there was a break in filming, he would be rushed off into a lesson with one of the private tutors on set. We had to go school on the set for three hours a day as well as putting in the eight-hour work day. I was also a bit older than most so they did treat me like Buzz the older brother but I felt very close with them and we had a pretty good time together.”Įven so, Ratray remembers facing a gruelling schedule of filming and school work on the set of Home Alone. Ratray has fond memories of life on the set of Home Alone working alongside the rest of the kids that can be found running around the McCallister house at the start of the film. But playing the bad guy is always more fun and playing a nasty, surly, rude teenage bastard like Buzz was great.” “Up until then I had played either nerds or bullies. The exact opposite in fact, so there was no familial inspiration at home.”ĭespite his largely negative depiction in Home Alone, the role of Buzz was one that Ratray relished playing and one he had no apprehension about taking on. ![]() ![]() “I have an older brother and there is almost the same age difference as Kevin and Buzz but he and I got along very well growing up. Some actors may have been able to draw from their own personal experience when it came to shaping a character like Buzz – plenty of us have been born with older brothers, after all.īut, fortunately for him, Ratray’s formative years were a far more pleasant experience. I don’t know what it was but I’m just grateful that I got it.” Maybe he felt that he could work with someone who didn’t come across as nervous on camera. I just felt very at ease with Chris Columbus. I guess it helped that I had memorised it and felt comfortable with the script. “I remember doing the Old Man Marley speech in Buzz’s bedroom for the audition.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |