Some of the best horror movies have returned to theaters in the past few years thanks to long-awaited sequels, as the genre continues its renaissance. This includes Halloween, with the massive success of the 2018 movie resulting in the quick green light of two more installments. Halloween Ends will wrap up the trilogy, and the original Michael Myers actor has clarified his role in the slasher.
In John Carpenter’s 1978 original Halloween movie, The Shape was played by actor and filmmaker Nick Castle. He’s had a few cameos in the past two movies, while the bulk of the work behind the mask is done by stunt performer James Jude Courtney. With Halloween Ends starting to film, Castle took to social media after it was reported that he’d be returning as Michael Myers. As he clarified,
Unfortunately, this and other recent articles on the production of Halloween Ends mistakenly think I am playing Michael Myers. The talented James Jude Courtney will once again play MM. I’ll have a fun cameo but let’s give credit where credit is due. https://t.co/redl6QCuwRJanuary 26, 2022
Well, there you have it. While Nick Castle will indeed be back for Halloween Ends, he wants to make sure you know that he’s not the main actor portraying Michael Myers. We’ll just have to see what David Gordon Green has up his sleeve for the threequel, and what cameo(s) the OG Shape manages to pull off.
Nick Castle’s comments about Halloween Ends come from his personal Twitter account. He’s got over 20k followers on the social media outlet, many of whom love and adore him as the original Michael Myers. It’s definitely thrilling that he’ll be back for the upcoming sequel, but Castle wants to make sure that James Jude Courtney gets proper credit as well. Talk about a class act.
Throughout the last two Halloween movies, Nick Castle can be seen in any scenes where Michael Myers has his mask off. This includes the opening of the 2018 movie, as well as the thrilling conclusion of Halloween Kills opposite Judy Greer. He also does the ADR for the villain’s breathing. Castle has to wear some prosthesis to pull it off, as the iconic villain has taken a beating over the last few sequels. And smart money says that The Shape will have his mask removed in a similarly dramatic fashion during the runtime of Ends.
The work that James Jude Courtney is doing throughout David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy definitely needs to be commended. Rather than simply stalking babysitters like Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode, Michael Myers is extremely lethal, and has an insane body count following Halloween Kills’ bloody ending. As such, he has to do a ton of specific stunt work in order to shoot all the bloody violence safely.
Narratively, it should be fascinating to see where David Gordon Green and Danny McBride take the story of Halloween Ends. While much of it remains a secret, it’s already been confirmed that the new movie will be a far more contained narrative. What’s more, we’ll be getting a sizable time jump so that the in-universe story catches up to the timeline IRL.
Halloween Ends is filming now and expected to hit theaters on October 14th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.