Chris Columbus has directed some of the most iconic child performances in movie history as the filmmaker behind “Home Alone” and the first two “Harry Potter” films, and his tip for finding the right kids is to make sure they have the right parents.

"I can't have [an actor] go home to a really sort of shaky environment for the sake of a film. It's not worth it," the filmmaker said.

Chris Columbus learned a lot from directing Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, and shared how the experience impacted his casting of Harry Potter. Columbus, who helmed both Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,