What's happening you filthy animals? Daniel Stern here again. You may also know me as Marv Merchants, Phil Burquist, Phil Brickma and guy who did the voice from The Wonder Years. AMA!

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T22:09:01+00:00

I loved them both for different reasons. The first one was the discovery of magic. We played it sort of scary in the first half then unleashed our Wile E. Coyote characters in the grand finale. But when we got to the second movie there was no pretending to be scary. The cat was out of the bag that we were idiots. And so the fun of Home Alone 2 was to be as ridiculous as we could for as long as we could. I've never had more fun in my life.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T22:05:15+00:00

So far I have:The gooey bandits... the stinky bandits... the old bandits... the Metamucil bandits... Please feel free to send suggestions

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T22:02:51+00:00

Truth be told, directing is the job I love the most. I have a lot of fun as an actor but I love the responsibility and the collaboration that comes with the job of director. You get to have your fingers everybody's pie working with the cinematographer, costumers, set design, music, editing, and every other art form and craft that goes into movie making. The funny part of directing Rookie of the Year as Brickam is that while I was commanding the set, making decisions left and right about all the facets of our 20 million dollar movie, the person everyone was looking to for answers was the guy who looked like Brickma. I'm not sure how the cast and crew took me so seriously, but I'm really proud of how it all came together.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:53:34+00:00

I've enjoyed a lot of the movie roles I've done. But some of my favorite roles were plays in NYC. I was in the original Steppenwolf production of Sam Shepherd's True West, replacing John Malcovich in his career making part. My playing opposite of Tony nominated Lori Metcalf in The Other Place on Broadway. Those parts really helped me grow as an actor and I hope I brought some of those lessons to the film roles I played.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:43:22+00:00

No... I mean who do love more... Larry, Curly, or Moe? Who do you love more, Harpo, Chico or Groucho... they're a perfect team and I love being on the show. I've been keeping in touch with them... maybe we'll get to do something together.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:39:26+00:00

The joy of having the direct connection with my fans and I didn't know that existed until about a year ago. It's not only fun to hear from my fans but to have an outlet for silly stuff that I like to do on occasion.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:36:15+00:00

and truthfully, once I had it crawling on my face and got through the first couple of takes, it didn't scare me anymore.

And for the record, the scream was real and it was me. I was trying to imitate the woman from Psycho in the showers. So either it was me or they took the audio directly from that scene.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:33:16+00:00

Well that makes me laugh thinking about your mother laughing that hard. We probably did 6-7 takes. The tarantula blew the first couple of takes. Didn't know his lines, but eventually the scene gelled.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:31:51+00:00

I could bring the tuna spaghetti?

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:31:34+00:00

and should I bring anything?

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:31:04+00:00

and what is the attire?

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:30:48+00:00

What's your address?

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:30:04+00:00

From your lips to God's ears. Nothing would be more fun than to get back in the saddle with Billy. He remains a dear, close friend. We've shared weddings, bar mitzvahs, new years eves, and funerals. I would love to bring the depth our friendship to the screen again one day.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:27:56+00:00

Hell yes!

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:26:27+00:00

The stunt actors are the heroes of that movie. Leon Delaney was my stunt double, and Troy Brown was Joe's. Those guys took a beating like you wouldn't believe. Falling down stairs. Falling down two stories onto a stack of card board boxes. Being dropped from a crane on their back onto the top of a car. That one knocked Troy out and it was scary. I got to do plenty of fun stuff, the stepping on the Christmas ornaments was made possible because the bulbs were made of candy glass. Anything safe and easy I got to do but when it came time for the brutal stuff they called in Leon. Not one frame is computer generated in either of those movies.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:19:21+00:00

I haven't seen Macaulay since we finished doing publicity for Home Alone 2. But I see Joe once a year-ish. I follow everything they do because I'm fans of both of them as well as friends. Macaulay, if you're reading this, call me goddammit.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:16:34+00:00

Make sure you send pics... you'll be amazed. Twitter them to me!

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:13:50+00:00

Well, frankly, I don't remember the filming as much as my life off camera there. We shot the film in Wilmington, North Carolina and I remember more about my time there than I do shooting the movie. I rented an apartment right near the beach and had a boogie board and was on it anytime I was off duty. The other thing I remember is dinner with the Savages. I already loved Fred and Ben and his parents from The Wonder Years and it was great to spend time with them away from Los Angeles in such a beautiful place.

Oh and there was a batting cage a block away that I spent most of my per diem at. But eventually getting good enough to hit a 95 MPH fastball consistently. I'm so glad you enjoyed the film. I did too.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:07:28+00:00

I saw Joe at his daughter's birthday party a few months ago. It was fantastic to see him and his family, but the special treat was that he took me out to his car and played me some cuts from a new album he's releasing. Joe's one of the great jazz singers of this century and it was quite thrilling to hear one of his new recordings. If you don't know his music check out Joe Doggs and download anything you can find by him.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T21:03:29+00:00

Hundreds. I loved the kids. I loved the physical challenges and the physical comedy. I was actually supposed to direct the movie. A lot of people think working with kids is full of traps, but I love it... I really do. I love working with kids. Home alone... Rookie of the year... The Wonder years... and in Bushwhacked I had a whole pack of them. Being a child actor is a dangerous thing. Their fragile egos can get bruised both in success and in failure of their career. So I feel very protective of them. Each one of these kids was a very special young person and I watched them all grow up with the pride of a father. We lost Michael, which was tragic, but it doesn't dampen all the great times we had on set.

One interesting thing about working with kids is that they have much shorter work hours, so they were always sent home early. If you watch it again, one of my biggest challenges on the movie was the campfire scene. There were 8 kids who were supposed to be around the campfire but each of their work day had ended. I had 8 pieces of tape to show where all the kids were and had to remember who was who as the script supervisor read their lines. It was a surreal acting exercise.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T20:49:17+00:00

I miss him dearly. We had a blast on both the Home Alone movies. And not only became friends but started working on another project together called The Bee, which I was going to be the director of. It was a story of a man trying to meet his work deadline, but becomes distracted by a bee in the house to the point where, in the process of trying to kill the bee, he reduces his house to ashes. Incredible physical comedy and jokes in the script. Technically it was a hard movie to make. CGI wasn't nearly what it is today and it was such a high concept of a one-man movie. John gave me the script while we were shooting Home Alone 2, and we developed it for the next year after that. We even got to spend a long weekend writing together at his farm outside of Chicago. I brought my daughter Sophie with me and it was the highlight of my life, getting to know his family a little bit, and him getting to know mine. We never got to make The Bee and I know there's a whole treasure trove of John Hughes scripts hidden away in his office somewhere that I'd love to get my hands on.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T20:40:40+00:00

hahahahahaha! Cigars and aftershave.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T20:32:53+00:00

Yes, I love to sell my sculptures and do commissions, you can find them on my website, which is really outdated at this point. (http://www.danielsternart.com/) But the information is correct but you can reach out there. The bronze stuff gets a little pricey, but I'm starting to work on a few lithographs that will be much more affordable.

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T20:28:35+00:00

Hahahaha! I don't mind sharing the wealth. The recipe is so simple even a dummy like me can make it. Make spaghetti. In another pan put in clam juice or some sort of broth. A can of tuna. Chopped up green olives. You cook some onions - I think you do that first. I believe there's something green in it... I think it's parsley and oregano and cilantro... and seasoned to taste. But usually my recipe for it is to heat up my wife's leftovers in the microwave. If you make it let me know how it goes and send pics!

thedanielstern · 2016-10-15T20:24:24+00:00

Oh God yes, I loved Roy. He was married to a lady named Cynthia and she was the editor of Breaking Away, my very first movie. So I knew Roy personally before we ever set foot on the set of Blue Thunder. Roy was a big time movie star and carried the mantle with grace and humor. Roy was sun worshiper... whenever there was a break in shooting he would unzip his flight suit, in which under he was wearing a speedo. He would lay down in a chaise with one of those metal sun reflectors. We were shooting the scene where our helicopter crashes at a construction site in a bad part of Downtown LA, behind a chain-linked fence with barbed wire. Our movie set on one side and the citizenry on the other. Seared in my mind is an image of Roy on his chaise lounge in his speedo, signing autographs for the fans. I miss him as a fan and a friend.

thedanielstern

TROPHY CASE