Everyone remembers Donald Trump's small scene in the iconic Christmas film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Now the director, Chris Columbus is coming forward and telling his truth.
Home Alone 2 - Donald Trump Scene
Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York has just spoken with Insider about the infamous Donald Trump scene.
Chris explained, "Like most locations in New York City, you just pay a fee and you are allowed to shoot in that location. We approached The Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time because we wanted to shoot in the lobby. We couldn't rebuild The Plaza on a soundstage."
Apparently, after the fee was agreed, Trump added his extra demands. "Trump said OK. We paid the fee, but he also said, "The only way you can use The Plaza is if I'm in the movie."
Luckily for production, the added scene was well-received. "So we agreed to put him in the movie, and when we screened it for the first time the oddest thing happened: People cheered when Trump showed up on-screen. So I said to my editor, 'Leave him in the movie. It's a moment for the audience.' But he did bully his way into the movie."
Donald Trump's Forced Film History
Apparently, this is not the first time Trump pulled this tactic to get airtime. He has made many cameos in films like Zoolander and Little Rascals but one film cut his scene from the final edit. In 1992 Trump tried to pull the same move with Scent of a Woman's director Martin Brest. The Academy and Golden Globe-winning film almost had President Donald Trump shoe-horned into it as well.
Matt Damon told The Hollywood Reporter that it was becoming well known that Trump had strings attached if anyone wanted to use property he owned for filming locations. Damon explained, "The deal was that if you wanted to shoot in one of his buildings, you had to write him in a part. Martin Brest had to write something in Scent of a Woman, and the whole crew was in on it."
The Good Will Hunting star understands that film productions work on very tight schedules and need every extra minute possible. He said, "You have to waste an hour of your day with a bulls*** shot: Donald Trump walks in and Al Pacino's like, 'Hello, Mr. Trump!' you HAD to call him by name, and then he exits."
"You waste a little time so you can get the permit, and then you can cut the scene out. But I guess in Home Alone 2, they left it in." Scent of a Woman star Chris O'Donnell himself admitted Trump demanded this caveat.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Chris told Conan O'Brien the cast received a scrip that "Explained to us that in order for us to film at the Plaza, we had a little walk-on part for Trump and [his now ex-wife] Marla. I won't shy away from this, he said, 'Yeah, they can shoot at the Plaza if they put me in the freakin' movie." Trump's feature in the film was ultimately cut from Scent of a Woman.
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