How Jamie Lee Curtis Was Convinced To Return For 2018’s Halloween

Jamie Lee Curtis had been away from the Halloween franchise for a couple of decades when she returned to the role of Laurie Strode for 2018’s rebootquel from Blumhouse. Fans thought they’d seen the last of the original Scream Queen in the horror genre, but thankfully, a close friend was able to convince the actress to face off against Michael Myers once again. And that close friend was none other than Jake Gyllenhaal.

Recently, Curtis chatted with fellow horror icon Scream star Neve Campbell for Variety’s Actors on Actors interview series. Campbell has herself just signed on to return in Scream 5, so she explained to Curtis how she was convinced to board the project. This led the Halloween star to open up about how she got involved with 2018 film, revealing that Gyllenhaal vouched for director David Gordon Green before he sent her the script.

“My phone rang, I was on vacation with my husband in the mountains, and my phone rang and it was my friend/godson/knucklehead Jake Gyllenhaal saying “hey, my friend David Gordon Green would like to talk to you about a Halloween movie.” And I was like… [shocked expression] [That was] the last thing in the world I ever thought I would do again, the last thing in my mind. And I said “Sure!”

Curtis went on to describe how Green then started to pitch her his idea for the relaunch of the legendary series on the phone, but she invited him to just go ahead and send her the screenplay. Upon reading it, the actress was struck by its homage to the original 1978 film as well as its unique angle on the material, particularly its exploration of the multi-generational trauma of the Strode family. And after that, she was back on board.

Fast forward a few years later and Curtis has already shot the sequel, Halloween Kills, which should have been with us last month but has been pushed back to next October instead. After that, Halloween Ends will then conclude the Laurie/Michael saga for good (though the Halloween franchise will no doubt go on). But we all have Jake Gyllenhaal to thank for getting Curtis to answer the phone when Green called in the first place.