Laurie Strode’s been waiting for Michael Myers to return even longer than we have. Blumhouse’s Halloween picks up 40 years on from where the classic 1978 original left off, and with all previous sequels in the long-running franchise now considered non-canon, Laurie’s had nothing but time to prepare herself for her old assailant’s next killing spree.
But while the new trailer for David Gordon Green’s upcoming slasher pic makes it clear that the legendary scream queen is now armed and dangerous, actress Jamie Lee Curtis wishes to stress that Laurie hasn’t exactly transformed into a brawny action hero between films.
“Laurie wasn’t a badass, Laurie was a nerd…She’s smart and she survived and in that she’s badass. But you know, her poking [Michael] with the [hanger] was just an instinct and in this movie, I also don’t want her to be a badass. I want her to be prepared. I want her to still be who she is but prepared; she’s not Linda Hamilton, I don’t have those arms.”
So, Laurie may not be the next Sarah Connor from Terminator 2, but Curtis makes the case that a female character’s strength should be more a matter of brains than brawn.
“It’s tricky because we’ve turned strong women into superhero women and that isn’t what makes a woman strong. We’re not talking about physical strength, we’re talking about intelligence and wile and all the beautiful things that make a smart woman so dynamic. So I’m hoping to fight against becoming too much of a badass and keep the integrity of [Laurie’s] intelligence that I have brought into this piece. I fought for that.”
It’s nice to know that Laurie might deep down still be that geeky, straight-laced teenager we rooted for all those years ago, and we’ll get to see if she survives her next round with Michael when Halloween hits cinemas on October 19th.
