"Love Actually" came out in 2003, but fans still may not have noticed these details and Easter eggs.
Jamie's novel pages look mostly blank, and Natalie misspells Christmas in her holiday card.
After being mentioned twice, Claudia Schiffer makes a cameo at the end of the movie.
"Love Actually" (2003) is a star-studded Christmas movie featuring major actors from Keira Knightley and Hugh Grant to Emma Thompson and Liam Neeson.
However, even superfans of the holiday film may not have caught these "Love Actually" Easter eggs.
Only some members of the prime minister's staff have ID cards.
The security team has ID cards, but the house staff doesn't appear to have any.
Universal Pictures
When the prime minister shows up for his first day of work, some of the people he walks by have ID cards, but others don't.
It appears that anyone visiting him or on his security team has a badge clipped to their top, but the members of his house staff don't.
Harry's office is decorated with things from his family.
His family is very present in his work office.
Universal Pictures
Although his morality is called into question throughout the film as he's tempted by his assistant, Mia, in his first scene, Harry is introduced as a family man.
In his office, there's a wall of family photos and pictures that seem to have been drawn by his children.
Sam has a variety of stickers on his bedroom door, along with a chalkboard that he uses during the movie.
The message on the board changes throughout the movie.
Universal Pictures
Daniel and his stepson Sam grow closer throughout the movie, but at the start of the film, Sam hides away in his room.
His bedroom door is decorated with stickers and a chalkboard, which he uses to tell Daniel to leave him alone. But he writes different messages on it later in the film.
Some of the stickers say "Don't drop anything, you won't find it again" and "If your name's not Sam, you're not getting in."
Most of the pages Jamie's working on appear to be blank.
It probably didn't really matter that they blew away.
Universal Pictures
When Jamie is working on his book outside by the lake, most of the pages that fly away as Aurelia lifts his cup seem to be blank.
There's a handful with words typed on them, but even the piece of paper in his typewriter looks like it's empty at the top.
The lake Aurelia and Jamie "swim" in was less than a foot deep.
The water wasn't deep.
Universal Pictures
When Aurelia and Jamie go to grab his book pages out of the lake, they struggle to swim around.
The awkward swimming is probably because of how shallow the water was. Director Richard Curtis told Montclair Film in 2016 that it was actually just 11 inches deep.
When the US president visits the prime minister, he inexplicably has Washington-state license plates.
It's weird that the car doesn't have government plates.
Universal Pictures
When the president arrives at Downing Street, his car can be seen pulling into the gates.
The black car has American flags on the side of it, but it doesn't have the proper government plates that are on the real president's car, Cadillac One or "The Beast."
The license plates shown on the car in the film aren't even for Washington DC, they're for Washington state.
The dolls that Karen insults are actually Ken dolls.
The dolls seem to have been restyled for the props.
Universal Pictures
Karen holds up two dolls that she's gift wrapping for her daughter's classmates and insults both of their looks.
They appear to actually be male Ken dolls restyled and dressed in drag before being packaged in unlabeled boxes.
Mark turns the television off immediately after the announcer says not to.
The sound cue is right on time.
Universal Pictures
Mark is watching a Billy Mack interview on TV before Juliet comes over.
He grabs the remote and shuts the television off immediately after the TV announcer says, "Do not switch off!"
Sarah's clock changes inconsistently when she's in her room with Karl.
The timing on the clock in different shots doesn't make sense.
Universal Pictures
When Sarah and Karl are in Sarah's bedroom, a small clock can be seen on the nightstand to the left of her bed.
When the couple is first in her room, the clock reads five minutes to 12. But later in the scene, the clock goes back in time to about 10 minutes to 12.
One of the few non-Billy Mack items in Joe's home is a "Jaws" poster.
Most of the posters are for his client.
Universal Pictures
Billy Mack's manager, Joe, has a ton of the singer's memorabilia in his home.
There are Billy Mack posters and pictures all around, including one poster that shows an album cover titled "Moments of Madness."
One of the few posters in Joe's home that doesn't feature his rock-star client is a large "Jaws" one.
Natalie spells Christmas wrong in her holiday card.
She wrote "Chistmas" instead of "Christmas."
Universal Pictures
Natalie confesses her feelings for the prime minister in a Christmas card.
She writes about being sorry about what happened and ends by saying that she's his.
The letter is a nice romantic gesture, but there's a pretty big spelling error — Christmas is missing its "r."
John and Judy wear the same outfits on their date and the next day at the play.
It seems to imply that their date went pretty well.
Universal Pictures
When John and Judy go on a date the day before the Christmas play, John is wearing a green jacket and dark pants and Judy is wearing a floral skirt with a pink top and pink jacket.
When they show up at the play the next day, the couple is wearing the exact same outfits they had on the night before — perhaps implying that the date went very well.
Claudia Schiffer's name is mentioned as a joke twice before she appears in the movie.
The celebrity ends up making a cameo in the movie.
Universal Pictures
While he's giving the eulogy, Daniel mentions that his late wife jokingly suggested he bring German model Claudia Schiffer as his date to her funeral.
Schiffer's name is brought up again when Sam asks Daniel about his love life.
At the end of the movie, Schiffer actually appears on screen as Carol, the mother of Sam's schoolmate, and she and Daniel immediately hit it off.
A background ad for an Apple product dates the film.
The new iMac G4 computer came out in 2002.
Universal Pictures
During the final airport scenes, Billy Mack stands in front of an ad for "the new iMac."
It's for the iMac G4, which debuted in January 2002.
The movie didn't come out until 2003, so the ad was probably a bit dated even then.
This story was originally published in December 2021 and most recently updated on December 10, 2024.
"Home Alone" came out over 30 years ago, but it's still a fan favorite around the holidays.
Like many John Hughes movies, it was filmed in the Chicagoland area.
The McCallisters left behind plants, a gingerbread house, dirty towels, and open garage doors.
"Home Alone" is a delightfully chaotic Christmas movie.
The 1990 classic is more outlandish and violent than some other cheerful holiday films, but it's still amused viewers for over 30 years.
Here are some sneaky "Home Alone" Easter eggs even superfans may have missed.
Kevin's sister insults him in French, even though the word is the same in English.
The family is preparing to leave for a vacation in France.
20th Century Fox
Before they head to France without him, Kevin's siblings and cousins are constantly teasing and mocking him.
While he's going around trying to figure out what to pack in his suitcase, one of his sisters tells him that he's "what the French call les incompétents."
Linnie was probably just brushing up on her basic French before their trip to Paris, but since "les incompétents" just translates to "the incompetent ones" it's not as impressive as she makes it seem — even if it does confuse Kevin.
"Home Alone" is set near Chicago, like many other John Hughes movies.
Buzz has a few Chicago Bulls posters in his bedroom.
It's clear from the mention of a Chicago airport and the Chicago Bulls decor in Buzz's room.
Mr. McCallister throws out a passport and plane ticket when he cleans up the spilled milk.
This is part of the reason why they don't notice Kevin is missing right away.
20th Century Fox
The night before Kevin's family leaves for their trip, everyone is busy finishing up packing, eating dinner, and finalizing their plans — which results in a lot of chaos.
After Kevin spills a bunch of milk, Mr. McCallister jumps to clean up the mess and wipe down the passports and plane tickets that are piled on the table.
As he throws away a bundle of napkins, he accidentally picks up and tosses one of the passports. A shot of the garbage can also shows that he threw away an American Airlines booklet that most likely contained a plane ticket.
If we assume it was Kevin's passport and ticket, this clever detail helps to explain why no one realized he didn't get on the plane.
The headcount Kevin's sister takes seems accurate because she counted a neighbor in place of Kevin.
This is another detail that helps to explain exactly how Kevin got left home alone.
20th Century Fox
Before loading up into the vans to go to the airport, Kevin's oldest cousin takes a quick head count of her siblings and cousins.
In the rush of trying to get to the airport on time, she accidentally counts a neighbor boy — who is curiously climbing through the van — which brings her total to the correct number even though Kevin is still sleeping in the attic.
Kevin's dad actually did forget to shut the garage.
The McCallisters left their house in a bit of disarray.
20th Century Fox
After the McCallisters board their plane, Kevin's mom is struck with the feeling that she forgot something.
After a moment of thought, Mr. McCallister tries to calm her nerves by saying he forgot to shut the garage door — which turns out to be true.
Despite having a number of plants in the house, Kevin's parents didn't arrange for anyone to water them.
If someone had come to water the plants, they could've helped Kevin.
20th Century Fox
There are plants throughout Kevin's house, including in the dining room and kitchen.
However, no one ever comes by the house to water them, which seems like something the family should've planned for before they left for the trip.
If they had hired a neighbor to look after their plants, they might have been able to help Kevin when he got left home alone.
When Kevin reads the Playboy magazine, the pages appear to be taped together.
When he throws the magazine back, it lands in the exact same position.
20th Century Fox
While looking through his family's belongings, Kevin finds a Playboy magazine in Buzz's room.
He opens it to a page in the middle before throwing it on the floor behind him. Judging by the way it lands, though, it seems like the rest of the pages were stuck together.
A 2017 Bustle article said the prop was a real edition of Playboy from 1989, so the crew may have taped everything else so that Macaulay Culkin (who played Kevin) wouldn't see any inappropriate content while they filmed the scene.
Kevin's parents left a gingerbread house out on the counter.
"Home Alone" takes place during the Christmas season.
20th Century Fox
In certain kitchen shots, there's a decorated gingerbread house visible on the counter.
Like the plants, this seems like an odd thing to leave unattended while going on a long trip.
Kate, Kevin's mom, also made a point of asking people to finish the milk the night before, so it wasn't like she was oblivious to the perishable food in her house.
The movie Kevin watches, and replays several times, isn't real.
"Angels With Filthy Souls" was made for "Home Alone."
20th Century Fox
Throughout "Home Alone," Kevin watches a black-and-white film called "Angels With Filthy Souls" and later uses it as part of his defense plan against the Wet Bandits.
Although it looks pretty realistic and its lines have since become famous, the movie isn't real. The scenes were made specifically for "Home Alone."
The popcorn Kevin spills can be seen under the bed when he hides there later.
There are a few small details that carry through the film.
20th Century Fox
After realizing he's home alone, Kevin runs around the house doing whatever he wants, including jumping up and down on his parents' bed while eating popcorn.
Later, when he hides under their bed when a police officer knocks on the door, there's popcorn on the floor from his earlier antics.
The mannequins Kevin uses to throw off the Wet Bandits were in the basement when he first went down there.
There are plenty of spooky things that scare Kevin in his basement.
20th Century Fox
When Kevin first goes down into his basement, he walks past a couple of mannequins as well as other storage items.
These later prove useful when he rigs them up near the windows to trick the Wet Bandits into thinking there are adults in the house.
The Wet Bandits' nickname works on several levels.
Harry and Marv, the Wet Bandits, drive around in a plumbing-and-heating van.
20th Century Fox
Marv and Harry, the robbers who try to break into Kevin's house throughout the movie, go by the nickname the Wet Bandits.
Marv explains at one point that the name fits their signature move of flooding the houses that they steal from, but the nickname can also be a reference to the fact that they drive around in a plumbing van.
There's an absurd number of towels in Kevin's bathroom.
There appear to be around 20 full-sized towels in the bathroom.
20th Century Fox
When Kevin showers and styles his hair in the bathroom, there are at least 20 visible light- and dark-green towels all around the room.
Seeing as there were just a bunch of people in the house, it makes sense that there are multiple used towels hanging to dry. But there are also a number of clean towels stacked on the shelves.
The McCallister's house is fairly large, so this probably isn't the only bathroom, making the sheer number of towels even more absurd.
The statue in front of the house is knocked over several times.
The pizza guy knocks over the statue every time he comes to the house.
20th Century Fox
The airport-shuttle driver, police officer, and pizza deliverer all knock over the statue next to the McCallister's driveway.
The pizza boy even drives into it a second time when he brings Kevin a pizza.
One of the robbers audibly curses in a scene.
Most of their curses are gibberish, but there is one audible swear.
20th Century Fox
"Home Alone" has a PG-rating, but one of the robbers can be heard cursing during a scene.
When Marv loses his shoe in the dog door, he says "shit" in a low voice. It's even confirmed in the movie's subtitles.
The pizzeria's name is probably a spin on a popular chain.
Little Nero's seems to be a parody of Little Caesars.
20th Century Fox
The pizzeria featured multiple times in the film is called Little Nero's.
It isn't a real restaurant, but it seems to be a spin on the popular pizza chain, Little Caesars.
Like Julius Caesar, Nero was a Roman political head, and both the fictional and real pizza chains feature Roman mascots.
There's also a legend that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, making the pizzeria's tagline — "No Fiddlin' Around" — a clever joke.
Though he puts together an impressive battle plan, Kevin can't spell "ornaments."
For an 8-year-old, the rest of his spelling is pretty impressive.
20th Century Fox
The plans and traps that Kevin arranges to outsmart the robbers throughout the movie are pretty brilliant.
But despite how clever he is, Kevin stills misspells "ornaments" on his battle plan — which is a helpful reminder that the character is, in fact, only 8.
The ornaments Kevin places under the window don't match the rest of the decorations on the tree.
The ornaments on the floor were reportedly made of candy.
20th Century Fox
One of the many traps Kevin sets for the robbers includes placing ornaments under a window so that Marv will step on them when he tries to break in.
The decorations on the tree seem to be shaped like candy canes, presents, and 2-D stars. However, the ornaments that Marv steps on are more colorful and shaped much differently.
The ornaments on the floor were reportedly made of candy to help prevent any serious injuries, and actor Daniel Stern (who played Marv) wore rubber feet just in case.
Mr. Marley's hand heals as he mends his relationship with his son.
Director Chris Columbus added the sweet ending scene to the film.
20th Century Fox
Old Man Marley scares Kevin at the beginning of the film, especially when he walks up behind him at the drugstore and places a bloody, bandaged hand on the counter.
Throughout the movie, though, Kevin interacts with him and learns that the rumors about him aren't true. He also finds out that Mr. Marley is estranged from his son and granddaughter — a plotline that director Chris Columbus added to the film.
When Kevin and Mr. Marley talk in the church, the heavy, white bandage on his hand has been replaced with a smaller, tan one. At the end of the film, when he patches up his relationship with his son, his hand is completely healed.
This story was originally published on December, 14, 2020, and most recently updated on December 6, 2024.
