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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, May 4, 2012 · 40 Christian Martyn stars as the next Home Alone kid By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Macaulay Culkin, move over. Christian Martyn is now star of the show. The 12-year-old Oakville boy has just wrapped up filming as the star of the fifth installment of the Home Alone film series made famous in the 1990s, when Culkin's character thwarted would-be thieves with hilarious booby-traps after being left home alone at Christmastime. Now, the series continues with Martyn as the star of the show when he's left in a similar situation and is forced to fend off burglars in his family's home. The youngster can't wait to see the finished product. "I just want to see myself in this thing," he said. "I used to watch these movies. I used to love them and now I'm sort of like my own role model. How is that even possible? Then I have a second me that's like: it's possible, you just did it." Like those before it, the new Home Alone features gags, stunts and funny traps, with several moments that will remind people of the original films. · Home Alone (1990), starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern · Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern · Home Alone 3 (1997), starring Alex D. Linz, Olek Krupa and Rya Kihlstedt · Home Alone 4 (2002), starring Mike Weinberg, French Stewart and Missi Pyle has filled the role previously occupied by Culkin, however he says he wants to be known as a new and improved Home Alone kid. "I feel like Macaulay Culkin was the Home Alone of that generation and I'm going to be the Home Alone of this generation," Christian said. The Oakville youth said he enjoyed the filming process. "Doing pranks was fun but I had a stuntdouble for something I didn't want to have a stunt-double for," he lamented. That scene involved Finn going down a set of steep stairs in a laundry basket, but the film producers had a stunt-double do it. When Christian returned home to Oakville in mid-April from filming in Winnipeg, he tried the stunt himself. "I wrapped myself in bubble-wrap, which we had because we had some delicate things that we brought back," he said. "I wrapped my whole body. I put a pillow on my head, a pillow on my chest and I put a really big pillow on my back, and just taped it on my body. Duct-tape is useful. Then I went down the stairs. It was so fun." This new film stars such actors as Malcolm McDowell, Debi Mazar, Edward Asner and Eddie Steeples. The made-for-television film is slated to air on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas this December. In addition to Home Alone, some of Christian's other work is being released. Winner of the best Canadian first feature film award at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster, which features Christian as the son of Boyd, is set for release in Toronto theatres on May 11. The horror Exit Humanity, in which Christian has a minor role, is set to release on DVD this June. Christian is also the voice of Rabbit on Franklin & Friends cartoon series and a character voice on Monster Math Squad. He's also done guest appearance voice work on other cartoons. Dominik Kurek can be reached at dkurek@oakvillebeaver.com or followed on Twitter at @DominikKurek. Artscene Home Alone through the years "I used to watch these movies. I used to love them and now I'm sort of like my own role model. How is that even possible?" Christian Martyn, actor Home Alone "Right before the parents leave, Christian goes through this phase where he's doing all of this stuff in the house," said mom, Lori. "He's jumping on the couch, he's kicking soccer balls, he breaks a lamp. He goes through the whole Home Alone thing where he's shaving and brushing his teeth and he's putting on deodorant, he's doing funny walks, he's got a comb as a mustache and he's admiring his muscles in the mirror. He does the flashback to the aftershave." The film is centred around the Baxter family, not the McCallisters of the originals. Christian plays a boy named Finn and he has an older sister. The family moves across the country and into an old, creepy house. Finn becomes aware three thieves are trying to break into the home, who believe there is a valuable item in the basement of the Baxter's new home. When the parents go out to a work Christmas party, the children are left home alone. However, Finn's older sister becomes trapped in the basement, so Finn is left to take care of the bad guys on his own. eric riehl / oakville beaver / @halton_photog left home alone: Oakville actor Christian Martyn has just finished filming the next installment of the Home Alone movie franchise. He plays the lead role. During his acting career, Christian has already been compared to Culkin and Dennis the Menace. As the star of Home Alone is always a child of approximately Christian's age, the timing for the filming of Home Alone 5 was perfect for the Grade 6 Fern Hill School student. During the month-long filming, Christian