Veteran actor Joe Pesci committed a bit to the role to very much when he accidentally bit Macaulay Culkin’s finger while filming the 1990 Christmas classic Home alone.

In a new interview with Entertainment tonightHer star Daniel Stern – who plays the goofier half of Pesci’s more determined robber – recalled what happened: “I completely forgot about that. Joe is… he’s wonderful, I love him, he’s a dear friend, but he’s a scary guy and he’s carried everything with him. We tried to be really scary from the start in the first film, and Then You realize we’re idiots. But there was a fear factor that created the drama of the matter.”

He continued: “Yeah, I think he bit when he bit his finger, and then he bit – like, ‘Oh crap, I didn’t actually mean to do that.’ Joe was like, ‘Ah, I’m sorry I did that.’ But only then could you see Pesci fall apart.”

The light-hearted tidbit comes days after Culkin also shared his perspective on the behind-the-scenes story, as reported by New York Times. “He tried to scare me,” Culkin said Goodfellas Oscar winner. As Stern mentioned, Pesci resorted to the scaremongering that initially characterizes the film, and Culkin added, “He was like, ‘I want to be threatening to this kid.'”

While rehearsing the scene where Harry (Pesci) threatens to bite Kevin’s (Culkin) fingers off, he accidentally chewed something too far. “I have a scar,” he said. “I’ve seen his face – and I’ve never seen Joe Pesci really scared because he was like, ‘I just bit a kid!'” (Pesci declined to comment for the article Just.)

Written and produced by John Hughes, the irreverent and indelible holiday film follows an 8-year-old who must defend his family’s sprawling Chicago home from two dim-witted robbers after his family members accidentally abandon him on the way to their Christmas vacation in Paris have . (The real Illinois location sold for over $5 million earlier this year after being listed as on the market for a week. Culkin joked out loud Just, that he thought about buying it “just for a laugh.”)

When asked why it remains such a popular reboot almost 35 years after its release, Stern said: “There’s so much heart in it. It’s so funny. You know, I think we’re really fun…and it has a great holiday and Christmas feel to it. But I think what really stands out is that the boy gets us. Everyone wants the kid to win. It’s a film to empower children.”