Comedic heavyweight John Candy appeared in two films directed by John Hughes, including Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Uncle Buck. Candy also starred in several movies written by Hughes, including National Lampoon's Vacation, The Great Outdoors, Home Alone, and Career Opportunities. As a result, the two men had a rich relationship on and off-camera.
In Uncle Buck, Candy plays a gambling low-life who is pressed into service watching his brother's three children in Chicago following a family emergency. As Buck struggles to impose rules and act responsibly, he begins to alienate his oldest niece, Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly). Here are 10 behind-the-scenes facts about the making of Uncle Buck.
Buck's Casting
Despite working with Candy before, several higher-profile actors were up for the part of Buck Russell. Among them were John Goodman, Bill Murray, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Michael Keaton, Tim Allen, George Wendt, Dan Aykroyd, Ed O'Neill, Jim Belushi, Dudley Moore, John Travolta, Joe Pesci, Robin Williams, Danny DeVito, and Jack Nicholson.
In the end, Hughes' working relationship with Candy on the set of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles landed him the gig. For the role of Buck's brother Bob, Rick Moranis was considered before Garret M. Brown was cast.
Tia's Casting
Much like the casting of Buck, finding the right person to play Tia Russell was a long, arduous process. Winona Ryder was Hughes' first choice to play the role after seeing her in Beetlejuice, but she was too busy filming Heathers to accept the part.
Other actresses considered for the role included Ally Sheedy, who starred in Hughes' The Breakfast Club four years earlier. The role was ultimately awarded to unknown Jean Louise Kelly in her first feature film.
Original Location
Most of John Hughes' movies take place in his native city of Chicago or the fictional suburb of Shermer, Illinois. However, as a change of pace and place, Uncle Buck was written to take place in St. Louis, Missouri.
However, Uncle Buck is primarily set during wintertime. Just prior to principal photography, the weather in St. Louis during the winter of 1988 turned out to be far too warm for the desired atmosphere and the production was moved back to Chicago.
Sets
Every single set in Uncle Buck was erected in a nearby school gymnasium in Northfield, Illinois, called New Trier High School. This includes the lavish two-story Russell home, as well as several other iconic set-pieces in the film.
Three of the school's gyms were converted to sound stages. The sets were used to recreate the elementary school hallway, the boy's bathroom, the principal's office, classroom, Buck's bedroom, and others. The school also served as a production shop to accommodate wardrobe, makeup, special FX, and editing bays.
John Candy's Night Out
Following a long day of filming, John Candy enjoyed a late night out with several locals. He went to a pub with Music Supervisor Tarquin Gotch, where he acted very friendly with the townsfolk. This did not make John Hughes very happy.
The next day, Hughes heard a radio interview in which a caller beamed about his time meeting John Candy the night before. When Hughes confronted Candy, Candy claimed Buck was supposed to look bedraggled in the upcoming scene on the schedule and thought it was okay. Hughes canceled the day of filming and told Candy to get some rest.
Candy & Kelly's Relationship
The main conflict in Uncle Buck is Buck's relationship with his moody teenage niece, Tia. Despite their characters struggling to get along until the very end, the real relationship between the two actors could not be more different.
According to Jean Louise Kelly, she and Candy got along extremely well off-camera. There was no animosity between them, only between their characters. Kelly admitted that she considered it an honor and privilege to work with Candy on the film.
Miles' Rapid Speech
For the iconic interrogation scene in which Miles (Macauley Culkin) rifles a series of questions at Buck, Candy used a helpful method to accommodate the young actor.
While Culkin recites the rapid-fire dialog in close-up, Candy stood behind the camera and held hand-written lines from the script (which Candy wrote out by hand) and held them above his head for Culkin to recite as fast as possible. The method resulted in one of the most iconic scenes in the film.
Home Alone Connection
John Candy worked with Macauley Culkin in three movies, starting with Uncle Buck. When it came time to cast Kevin McAllister in Home Alone, written by John Hughes, the director vouched for Culkin's talent and encouraged Chris Columbus to give him the part. Candy also appears in Home Alone.
Despite already seeing Culkin in Uncle Buck, Columbus decided to audition five other young actors anyway, much to Hughes' dismay. Upon meeting Culkin in New York, he was offered the part.
Altered Artwork
Following the release of Uncle Buck, the VHS and poster artwork were altered in order to better market it as a kid's movie. Rather than the original image of Uncle Buck knocking on the door with the entire family on the other side locking him out, three of the family members were airbrushed out of the image.
As a result, the image makes it look like Buck is being locked out by Miles and Masie (Gabby Hoffman) rather than the whole family. The move was also made to help promote the two young popular child stars.
Spin-Off Television
With an estimated budget of $15 million, Uncle Buck became a box-office hit, grossing more than $66 million domestically and $79 million globally. As such, a spin-off TV series was rushed into production in 1990. Another was revived in 2016.
The first Uncle Buck series ran for one season and 18 episodes from 1990 to 1991. Kevin Meany starred as Buck Russell in the half-hour sitcom, with Dah-ve Chodan, Jacob Gelman, and Sarah Martineck playing Tia, Miles, and Maisey. The second short-lived spin-off series ran for just episodes with Mike Epps in the titular role.