He's not one for conversation.
He stabs, strangles, impales and drowns people, and worst of all, he doesn't even have the
decency to stay dead when the favor is returned.
He's Michael Myers, and he's back... again — played by an actor who happens to be gorgeous
in real life.
James Jude Courtney, who played Michael Myers in the 2018 "Halloween" film, and lead actress
Jamie Lee Curtis apparently didn't do a lot of “chit chat” between takes.
As Courtney explained to Entertainment Weekly in 2018:
"We don't interact.
And I get it."
Courtney went on to explain that the filmmakers of "Halloween" told him that Curtis would
be deeply embedded in her character, Laurie Strode, which led him to make the conscious
decision to avoid her while he was also in his costume.
"Michael Myers murdered five people, and you think he's a human being you need to understand?"
As Courtney told Entertainment Weekly:
"They let me know that when she gets in in the morning, and she gets the wig on, she's
in character, and she's in character all day long."
Courtney thought Curtis' strategy made, quote, "perfect sense."
In fact, he's quick to point out that the movie legend was always, quote, "gracious
and kind" to everyone in the set.
Courtney loved watching her working process, but made sure to keep his distance when they
didn't have scenes together.
But inevitably, the time came for Courtney to get up close and personal with his co-star
and with that infamous mask...
It was a fateful day — for James Jude Courtney, and for fans of the horror genre in general.
A whole bunch of "Halloween" bigwigs, including director David Gordon Green, had covertly
gathered in a side room, far removed from the rest of the cast and crew.
The time had come: The mask was ready, and it was time for Courtney to try it on.
The actor told Halloween Daily News that something strange happened when the mask went over his
head.
As he explained:
"This thing happened to me inside.
I had already created the energy, I already knew the space, but man that was like after-burns,
dude."
Courtney went on to claim that he could feel the full force of the energy of the franchise,
40 years of horror history, inside him when he put the mask on.
When Green asked Courtney what wearing the mask felt like, the stuntman's response was
that it was, quote, "perfect for killing."
And killing, apparently, is something Courtney actually has a rather close relationship with.
Here's a question in two parts: Do you know how to kill?
If so, who taught you how to do it?
If you ask James Jude Courtney, he'll offer up an intriguing answer: As he told Halloween
Movies in 2018:
"I learned how to kill from a mafia hitman who lived with me when he got out of prison."
One day, Courtney and his new roommate went to see a film that featured Courtney called
"The Hit List," and afterwards the ex-hitman gave him some pointers on how to be a good
movie killer.
Courtney claimed he took the hitman's notes to heart, and told Halloween Movies that the
advice got results, as he explained:
"I've been complimented many times here on set on how efficiently I kill, and all I did
was take what he taught me."
Luck played a big part in James Jude Courtney getting cast as Michael Myers.
The actor and stuntman told Halloween Daily News in 2018 that the role came, quote, "out
of left field."
According to Courtney, veteran stunt coordinator Rawn Hutchinson — who worked on the Rob
Zombie "Halloween" reboots — felt Courtney would be the perfect Michael Myers since the
role required someone who could be very physical but also had the acting ability to embody
such a strange, terrifying character.
Courtney said he tried out for the part at Hutchinson's behest and hadn't even left the
parking lot after the audition when he got the call that director David Gordon Green
wanted to meet with him.
After just one audition, a new movie monster was born.
Although James Jude Courtney is featured in every scene that includes Michael Myers, he's
not the only actor who plays the character in the latest "Halloween" film.
Nick Castle, the man who played the sadistic psychopath in the original 1978 "Halloween,
also stepped back in to play the role at various points in the film.
As Courtney told Bloody Flicks in 2018, Castle came in for "a few scenes," and was a, quote,
"super talented" performer even after years away from the role.
In August 2018, Castle told Bloody Disgusting that he recorded all of Myers' ominous breathing
sounds, which he also did in the original film, but he was physically featured only
in the scene that finds Laurie Strode seeing Myers again for the first time in 40 years.
"Halloween" obsessives can reportedly catch a subtle nod to the first film in Castle's
body language.
According to Castle, if you watch closely during that scene, you can see him recreate
the famous creepy head tilt that he originated in the first film.
Getting to play one of the most iconic villains in cinematic history isn't an opportunity
to pass up, and James Jude Courtney isn't taking the career coup in stride.
As he told Halloween Daily News in 2018:
"Right now I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
With "Halloween" in 2018, Courtney joined the long line of actors who've embodied legendary
slashers, and he's not done yet.
Though Michael seemingly died at the end of the last film, Courtney is actually reprising
his role yet again for 2021's "Halloween Kills," and so far the footage coming from the film
makes it look even more terrifying than the first film.
Courtney knows "Halloween" fans are going to have strong opinions about these new iterations,
but he's also confident they'll find lots to love thanks to the passion of the people
making the films.
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