“Halloween Ends” stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Kyle Richards, Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell and director David Gordon Green discuss their “Halloween” movie in this interview with CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg. They discuss Laurie Strode’s lifelong fight against The Shape coming to an end, their last days on set, and if the “Halloween” franchise will make an eventual return.
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00:00And I was looking in the mirror, and my face hurt,
00:03and I couldn't figure it out.
00:04Did I get like, did I grind my teeth, like something?
00:07And then I realized, oh no, it's because I was smiling.
00:12Because Lori was smiling,
00:13which is not something we've ever seen.
00:15It all ends now.
00:18Ah!
00:30Obviously, just because of the fact
00:32this is Halloween ends, I mean,
00:34what was the last day on set like?
00:35I have to imagine it was an emotional experience.
00:37Oh my God.
00:39Yeah.
00:40Yeah, uh, oh man.
00:44It was just, I mean, I gotta just sit back and watch.
00:46I mean, watching Jamie get wrapped out was,
00:48that was one of the most special moments
00:50I've ever witnessed.
00:53Yeah, watching Jamie get wrapped out was insane,
00:55and then I literally fell in love with everybody.
00:59David, all the way down, the entire crew, everyone.
01:02And I didn't, you know, you're not always that lucky, so.
01:06Yeah, it was a sad day, but really happy.
01:10It was very bittersweet.
01:11The entire process we were filming,
01:13you know, you were so excited to get to set
01:15and get working, because the scenes were so much fun,
01:17and we were having such a blast making it,
01:19but then every day that passed,
01:20you're one day closer to it being done.
01:23And so it was very bittersweet,
01:24and, you know, that last, Jamie, when she wrapped,
01:27it was, I wasn't working that day.
01:30I came to set, you were working that day.
01:32And it was just, it was an incredibly emotional experience.
01:36And then when they called picture wrap on Halloween,
01:37I mean, it was, it was pretty wild.
01:40It was many years for, I mean, we had the same crew
01:43for pretty much the three films, and it was very emotional.
01:47It feels surreal to be there.
01:49Yeah.
01:49It feels really surreal to be in the room for that.
01:52You know, it's a beautiful thing.
01:53Like, the last shot of Jamie, we have this moment,
01:56we call everybody over,
01:58and everybody kind of looks each other in the eye,
02:00and we know this long journey that we've had,
02:01because we have the exact same crew on all three films.
02:03Everyone from our production sound mixer,
02:06and production designer, and costume designer,
02:08and cinematographer and AD, many of the PAs.
02:12You know, it's just the same people that you're around
02:14for three movies, and it's not always easy days,
02:19but it's really, it's a group of people
02:20that you really trust.
02:21And so when you're coming to that conclusion
02:23and know we're moving on,
02:25we're putting to rest our story.
02:28It really was an emotional thing to carry it
02:30from that moment of saying goodbye to Jamie,
02:33to the sun's coming up and we're in the hotel lobby
02:35just having a drink and looking at each other
02:37with that great appreciation and exhaustion.
02:39Well, needless to say, tears were shed.
02:45But I would say that just go to the airport
02:47and watch people.
02:48I mean, what was that Richard Curtis movie?
02:50Right, Love Actually?
02:51You know, it's just the nature of saying goodbye to people
02:56or saying hello to people is powerful.
03:00The crew that I work with,
03:02I had made three movies with in five years,
03:05that group of people became very close to me.
03:09I'm ultimately saying goodbye to fans.
03:11I don't know if you're a fan of these movies.
03:13Okay, well then I'm saying goodbye to you.
03:15And I'm saying thank you to you
03:17and I'm saying thank you to them.
03:19I am the center point of Halloween
03:22and I take that role very seriously.
03:24I don't joke about it.
03:26I feel a great responsibility and integrity
03:30to tell that story and to represent
03:34all that Laurie Strode is to everyone
03:38with strength and courage.
03:40And yet I'm a human being and an artist
03:44and I'm saying goodbye.
03:45And it's been a lot, it's been a lot.
03:50Every day has been a WeepFest, every day,
03:53even during the press tour.
03:54I mean, by the time I end my day,
03:57I've been reconnected with how important Laurie Strode
04:00and then me.
04:02I am to people because I am Laurie Strode.
04:05At this point, you know, Laurie was a character in 1978.
04:10I didn't dress like her, I didn't look like her,
04:14I didn't sound like her, I didn't talk like her.
04:17And by now, Jamie and Laurie are the same
04:20because all of those qualities are the qualities
04:23that I also try to bring into the universe.
04:27And so there is this impossible separation
04:32and so that rip between us is very painful.
04:39Come on, let's go.
04:42Just knowing the history of genre franchises,
04:45what odds would you put on the idea of this being
04:48the just last Halloween movie that is ever, ever made?
04:51Well, if I have it my way,
04:53this movie will be phenomenally successful
04:56and then there's no way it will not,
04:57you know what I'm saying?
04:59I think what we've come to do, we've told our story,
05:03Jamie and I are really proud of what we've done
05:07with the mythology and I think it'll take a little breather
05:11and then the next generation or the next storyteller
05:13is gonna come in and infuse a creative way to look at it,
05:17reinvent it, detour from it, you know, stage musical,
05:21you name it, something's gonna happen
05:23because Michael's too cool,
05:25they're not gonna let him rest too long.
05:27I mean, it's hard to say.
05:29They are saying it's the end,
05:31but then again, it's Hollywood,
05:33so I think to myself, well, you never know.
05:35I mean, I've seen crazier things done.
05:38So would you be excited?
05:39If you were given the opportunity,
05:40would you bring Lindsay back?
05:41I mean, if I was given the opportunity
05:43and it wasn't the end, yes, I would love to see Lindsay.
05:46I don't want, I want Lindsay to keep going.
05:49One thing that's been really great
05:51about this trilogy of films is that I feel like each one
05:53has multiple just really cool, small little things
05:56like Jamie Lee Curtis voicing the baby
05:59in the first one of the Bob Odenkirk photo.
06:01Oh, whoa, okay, you caught that?
06:03Yeah, I mean, and I'm curious,
06:04just is there a one in Hollywood that's so bad?
06:07Oh my gosh, those are my favorite things.
06:10I guarantee you there's like 12 of those things.
06:13Well, I did notice Nick Castle as his cameo.
06:16Nick Castle's cameo, that's a good one.
06:18Yeah.
06:20Yeah, we just corrected, we found,
06:21we spelled Lindsay's character name wrong
06:24in the opening titles.
06:25Whoops.
06:26Oh.
06:28You know, there's these things that,
06:30we'll correct it for a home video, but it's screwed.
06:33Well, I guess I'll ask,
06:34how did the Nick Castle cameo come together?
06:35How did you decide that he was gonna be that?
06:37Nick Castle came, so I'm so passionate
06:41about the extraordinary work that Jim Courtney
06:45has done with our shape that I wanted to make sure
06:48that our final presentation of his performance
06:52in this role was 100% him.
06:55And I've become very close to Nick and I love him.
06:57He actually, he reads first drafts of my scripts now.
06:59He's like, he's a mentor of mine
07:01and I love to get his notes.
07:03I love to keep him creatively involved
07:05and he's just a wonderful, optimistic personality
07:09that if you come to know him, you come to love him.
07:11And so, then I'd ask him, I said, well, what,
07:13so we've got, Michael Myers is taken care of.
07:16I want Jim to be 100% Michael in this movie.
07:19What can we do with you?
07:21Because I can't not have you in the movie.
07:23So he's like, well, I've never acted before.
07:25I'm not an actor.
07:26And I said, well, we'll see about that.
07:27So we gave him a fun cameo
07:29and like this slim, good body kind of outfit.
07:32And yeah, it was great to get him in front of the camera
07:34without a mask, being Nick.
07:36And you kind of see, you can see that infectious smile
07:38that he has.
07:39Totally.
07:40And I think fans are gonna absolutely love that one.
07:41Oh, and it was his idea for the line,
07:42which is a callback to the original.
07:43Oh nice, that's awesome.
07:44If you see anything you like.
07:45Was there anything that, from the script,
07:47as David Gordon Green and the writers were working on it,
07:49was there anything that you specifically wanted
07:51to make sure that was in this story
07:53or on the opposite side?
07:55Anything that you just did not want to see happen?
07:56Yeah, I'm not that person.
07:58I'm not a writer here.
08:00I'm an interpreter.
08:02I know Laurie well.
08:04I felt that what David and company did in the 2018 movie
08:10was a perfect way to open the door to 40 years of trauma
08:15and what that actually looks like.
08:17What does it really look like if you've had no support,
08:21no mental health care and attention?
08:24And I loved that the four year time gap
08:28has given Laurie a chance at a little bit of healing,
08:32a little bit of help.
08:35You know and I know no one heals from the loss of a child,
08:39but you can live with it rather than having it be
08:44the overwhelming trauma of your life where you cannot exist.
08:49And I was very happy that that's also how they,
08:53I mean I'll tell you that we were shooting the first day
08:57and it was the scene in the supermarket
08:58and I remember I got back to my dressing room
09:01after they broke for lunch
09:04and I went back to my dressing room
09:06and I was looking in the mirror and my face hurt
09:09and I couldn't figure it out.
09:10Looking in the mirror I was like,
09:12did I grind my teeth like something?
09:16And then I realized, oh no,
09:18it's because I was smiling,
09:20because Laurie was smiling
09:22which is not something we've ever seen.
09:24And that made me realize that a healing
09:29had taken place for her,
09:31that she could allow herself to smile.
09:33That's awesome, I love how organic it is too.
09:35That's wonderful, that's fantastic.