Ahead of the release of Halloween, the direct sequel to John Carpenters 1978 horror classic, star Jamie Lee Curtis and director David Gordon Green sat down with Rolling Stones David Fear to discuss the upcoming film.
Over the course of the conversation, conducted at New Yorks 92Y Thursday, Curtis and Green discuss the challenges of reviving Halloween and its masked serial killer Michael Myers, the rapturous response the films preview received at Comic Con, Greens trepidation about taking on the cult franchise, John Carpenters involvement and Curtis return to the iconic role.
For the new Halloween, Curtis reprises the role of Laurie Strode for the first time since 1998s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. That sequel painted her character as paranoid and timid following the trauma of the original film, whereas Strode is a vengeance-seeking badass in the upcoming film. The 20-year film has no relevance to this [new film], Curtis said.
There are three choices when youre traumatized and, boy, weve been hearing a little bit about trauma, and what people have done with their trauma, Curtis added of her characters change. You can die from it, you can run from it, or it will affect you for your whole life until you face it. And those are the options.
Curtis also called her character a #MeToo-era hero. Everybody is talking about past trauma: Burying it, hiding it, squishing it, silencing it, shutting it up Its amazing that this is the world. Were talking about this movie that actually, at its core, is about trauma, and trying to put a real face on horrific trauma, and that is what we attempted to do.
Halloween and Michael Myers invade theaters on October 19th.