Macaulay Culkin holds back tears while remembring Catherine O'Hara at Emmys

Macaulay Culkin gets choked up while remembering his late on-screen mother Catherine O’Hara at the 2026 Emmys.

On Monday night, September 14, O’Hara‘s reel life children, the Home Alone star, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy came together to pay a heartfelt tribute to their on-screen “mama” at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Making the celebrity packed Peacock Theater emotional, the trio shared memories of working with O’Hara, who died at the age of 71 after suffering a pulmonary embolism.

“We remember her as the forgetful mother, right? But I will never forget about her,” Culkin, 46, said on the broadcast.

“There are all kinds of words I could use to describe Catherine. She was encouraging, she was warm, she was funny. But the word I think of is ‘mama,’ ” he added, referencing his experiences on-screen with O’Hara in the Home Alone movies.

“She wasn’t just a wife and mother to Bo and Matthew and Luke, she was my mom. And by extension, she’s all of our mama. By the way, call your mother tonight. For real. Give it up for the moms,” the musician continued. “Like a good mom, she always showed up when I asked her to. Because that was Catherine. That’s what she did. She showed up, and this is the best that we can do for her tonight. We’re showing up for her. She may have forgotten me — twice — but we will always remember her.”

“Catherine’s laugh was a perpetual ‘yes and,’ ” Murphy, 39, said, as she shared sweet moments she has exchanged with strangers and fans of O’Hara’s work. “It challenged anyone who heard it to join in and be as delighted as she was, and she spread that delight everywhere.”

“The greatest lesson I learned from Catherine both personally and professionally was to always say yes,” Levy, 43, added. “Say yes to her instincts, all of them, as radical as they may sometimes seem, she is miles ahead of you and you will learn to catch up.”

Both the actors costarred opposite O’Hara in the beloved sitcom Schitt’s Creek.