Catherine O’Hara made eerie mortality joke before Home Alone, Beetlejuice star’s death

Catherine O’Hara made a darkly playful remark about her own mortality less than a year before her reported death, joking with co-stars during a media interview that left the room in stitches.

The moment came in March 2025 while O’Hara was promoting The Studio alongside castmates Chase Sui Wonders, Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn and Ike Barinholtz in a group interview with the Los Angeles Times.

When journalist Matt Brennan asked whether actors now had more creative control in the industry, O’Hara cut in with a one-liner that surprised the panel, “I’ve been treated that way lately. Am I dying or something?”

Her co-stars burst into laughter at the comment, according to Page Six’s account of the exchange.

In earlier interviews, O’Hara had spoken warmly about ageing in the industry and continuing to land major roles well into her seventies. Speaking with Elle Canada in 2024, she reflected on longevity and perspective in her career.

“I’m lucky (I get) to keep doing things like this at my age — I can’t believe it,” she told the magazine in August 2024.

“Over the past few years, when I’ve gotten scared or nervous, or if I start grousing about something, I’ve tried to really practice turning it around and being grateful.”

“Like, ‘How lucky are you right now to be alive? And then to have this opportunity right here in this moment?’”

She also admitted she still felt self-conscious about high-profile shoots, saying she was “nervous” ahead of the magazine’s cover session and adding, “How crazy is it that at my age, I’m wearing these clothes and I’m lying over this pool?”

Discussing her role in The Studio, she highlighted the significance of playing a powerful industry figure later in life, saying, “I’m playing a studio head who becomes an independent producer — how beautiful is it that someone my age is doing this? It’s the way it should be.”

“Prolific multi-award-winning actress, writer, and comedian Catherine O’Hara died today at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness,” Creative Artists Agency (CAA) confirmed in a statement to Page Six.

Emergency services were dispatched to her Los Angeles residence early Friday morning, with the Los Angeles Fire Department telling Page Six crews attended at 4.48am. She was taken to the hospital in “serious” condition.

An official cause of death has not yet been released.

Across a career spanning decades, O’Hara became one of comedy’s most recognisable faces, with standout roles in Home Alone, Beetlejuice and Christopher Guest’s mockumentary films. A new generation of fans embraced her through Schitt’s Creek, followed by her later appearance in The Studio.

The Canadian-born performer is survived by her husband of 33 years, Bo Welch, and their sons Matthew, 31, and Luke, 29.