@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ UPythonComponent::UPythonComponent()
 	PythonTickForceDisabled = false;
 	PythonDisableAutoBinding = false;
 
-
+	bWantsInitializeComponent = true;
 }
 
 void UPythonComponent::InitializePythonComponent() {
@@ -77,26 +77,44 @@ void UPythonComponent::InitializePythonComponent() {
 
 	ue_bind_events_for_py_class_by_attribute(this, py_component_instance);
 
-	if (!PyObject_HasAttrString(py_component_instance, (char *)"begin_play")) {
+	if (!PyObject_HasAttrString(py_component_instance, (char *)"initialize_component")) {
 		return;
 	}
 
-	PyObject *bp_ret = PyObject_CallMethod(py_component_instance, (char *)"begin_play", NULL);
-	if (!bp_ret) {
+	PyObject *ic_ret = PyObject_CallMethod(py_component_instance, (char *)"initialize_component", NULL);
+	if (!ic_ret) {
 		unreal_engine_py_log_error();
 	}
-	Py_XDECREF(bp_ret);
+	Py_XDECREF(ic_ret);
 
 }
 
+void UPythonComponent::InitializeComponent()
+{
+	Super::InitializeComponent();
+	InitializePythonComponent();
+}
+
+
 // Called when the game starts
 void UPythonComponent::BeginPlay()
 {
 	Super::BeginPlay();
 
-	// ...
+	if (!py_component_instance)
+		return;
 
-	InitializePythonComponent();
+	FScopePythonGIL gil;
+
+	if (!PyObject_HasAttrString(py_component_instance, (char *)"begin_play")) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	PyObject *bp_ret = PyObject_CallMethod(py_component_instance, (char *)"begin_play", NULL);
+	if (!bp_ret) {
+		unreal_engine_py_log_error();
+	}
+	Py_XDECREF(bp_ret);
 
 }
 
 
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ class UPythonComponent : public UActorComponent
 	// Called every frame
 	virtual void TickComponent(float DeltaTime, ELevelTick TickType, FActorComponentTickFunction* ThisTickFunction) override;
 
+	virtual void InitializeComponent() override;
+
 	UPROPERTY(EditAnywhere, BlueprintReadWrite, Category = "Python")
 	FString PythonModule;