People are shocked after finding out the age of Kevin's mom in Home Alone

Home Alone is without question one of the most beloved Christmas films of all time.

Its characters have almost become extended family since the first movie was released back in 1990, but what few people know is how old the actor who played Kevin McCallister's mum, Kate, really was when she shot the film.

Played by Catherine O'Hara, who is something of an on-screen legend, Kate was a parent to quite a sizeable brood, which is one of the reasons her son Kevin found himself left behind in the first place.

Let's be honest, the film wouldn't have made quite as much sense if Kate and her husband planned to go on vacation with just two darling children, before accidentally forgetting half of their offspring.

To help justify the plot, O'Hara instead played mum to Kevin, Megan, Linnie, Jeff and Buzz McCallister, who was quite clearly well into his teens at the time of the movie's events.

The family lived in a huge house that would easily set you back a few million, and it's these context clues that might lead you to believe Kate is at least approaching middle age.

20th Century Fox

Unfortunately we don't actually learn her age in the movie, but it's O'Hara's age at the time she played Kate that has left people stunned.

When the Schitt's Creek actor had her horrifying realisation and called out 'Kevin!' in the film, she was actually only 36 years old - far from the oldest mum in the world.

This was noted by one TikToker, who pointed out that while O'Hara might have seemed well into adulthood in the film, at the time she was actually the same age that Lindsay Lohan is now.

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It just goes to show that context really is everything - and that people these days are allowed to stay younger for longer.

The TikToker, who goes by the name @justbri_always, proved this gloriously, when she added that the Golden Girls were meant to be in their 50s.

However, if they were to be played by actual women in their 50s these days, this would include the girls from Friends.

This revelation about Kevin's mum comes after fans of the hit franchise have only just realised how he was left home alone in the first place.

Twitter

While most of us are pretty confident that Kevin got accidentally forgotten after spending the night before his family holiday in the loft, it turns out that this wasn't why he was left behind.

It all goes down when Kevin gets into an argument with his older brother Buzz the night before the holiday, which causes a litre of milk to be spilled on the table.

This table was containing the family plane tickets, and when his dad goes to clean them up, he accidentally throws one of them away - specifically, Kevin's ticket.

That's why Kevin's absence wasn't noticed at the airport and how the family managed to board the plane without realising their error.

The little detail was pointed out by one eagle-eyed TikTok user.

We will be saving this for our Christmas trivia quiz 2022!