The evil Natalie Kalban
Natalie Kalban (Joanna Going) is a minor villainess from Home Alone 4 (airdate November 3, 2002). She was introduced as the girlfriend of Peter McAllister (the father of main protagonist, Kevin McAllister), having met Peter following his separation from Kevin's mother, Kate.
Natalie is a wealthy woman; as established when she is shown living in a mansion with Peter. She meets Kevin for the first time when he went to spend Christmas with Peter, and during most of the film, Natalie came across as a sweet and welcoming person. Her controlling nature is shown early on, as she was shown breathing into a paper bag (given to her by Prescott) when she and Peter arrived home and saw the house in a mess; coming after Kevin's first encounter with Marv Merchants and his wife, Vera. Even so, Natalie made plans to announce her engagement to Peter, while her staff prepared for the arrival of the Royal Family.
The home was wrecked again due to Kevin's attempt to catch Marv and Vera, and while Kevin was in his room after being scolded by Peter, Natalie entered and acted concerned for him. However, Natalie showed her true colors and threatened to kick out Kevin, while making callous remarks about his parents' split. She also warned Kevin not to cross her if he wants to remain in Peter's life ever again, and after leaving Kevin's room, she scoffed over Peter watching It's A Wonderful Life; mainly due to the fact that it was a family tradition of his. Even after Kevin successfully captured Marv, Vera, and hidden accomplice Molly (Marv's mother), Natalie believed that Kevin was misbehaving again. The film ends with Prescott resigning (due to being tired of working for Natalie), and Peter breaking up with Natalie, leaving the humiliated villainess crying and breathing into a paper bag again.
Trivia[]
- One unused draft of the film had Natalie as the main villainess masterminding the young prince's abduction with Marv and Vera.
- The original ending had Natalie and Peter staying together, but it was changed due to an attempt at a Home Alone TV series, with the film serving as a backdoor pilot. Due to the negative reception to the film, the series was never made.
- Joanna Going later appeared as the evil Sarah Sinclair in McBride: Dogged.
- Natalie Kalban shares similarites with villainesses Clarice Kensington and Vivian Berger, as they were all antagonistic potential stepmothers of child protagonists, who all share a dislike for children. Their fates were also similiar, as all of them ended up dumped and humiliated.
Quotes[]
- "Kevin, are you awake? (Kevin: "Yeah.") Your father and I were a little rough on you before; are you OK? (Kevin: "Yeah.") Good. Because if you ever do anything like that again, you'll be out of this house so fast your head will spin. So your father's getting divorced, boo hoo. Everyone's parents get divorced. That's life, you'll get over it. But you're not going to come between your father and me. He wants you in his life, and I think that's admirable. But if you want him in your life, you better not cross me. Understood?" (Natalie revealing her true colors to Kevin).
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