Over the years, there have been many men to have played the iconic role of Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise. But what you may not know is that very few of them have done it more than once. Tyler Mane may be the most obvious because he’d previously made a name for himself as a pro wrestler and as Sabretooth in the first X-Men flick before playing the villain in both of Rob Zombie’s contributions to the brand.
As it turned out, the filmmakers behind 2018’s (sort of) reboot actually managed to acquire the services of Nick Castle. If his name rings a bell, it should, because he was credited as the Shape in the 1978 original. And though James Jude Courtney was under the mask more often than not in the most recent picture, Castle did indeed suit up.
When I had the chance to speak with Mr. Castle at Motor City Comic Con this past weekend, he was generous enough to detail his involvement in David Gordon Green’s instant classic:
“I was in one scene. It’s the scene when Jamie Lee Curtis comes out of the car, looks up into the house, the second floor, and sees a reflection of the Shape in the mirror. She thinks it’s him and shoots and breaks the mirror – that’s me. And then, I actually did another scene playing a neighbor in a scene that’s cut out. That’s on the DVD release, and there, you can barely see me without the mask on. And then, another thing I did for the movie is I did all the breathing in post-production. So when you hear the Shape breathing, it’s actually me.”
After that, Nick told me about getting the opportunity to reprise the role after four decades:
“It was pretty crazy ’cause it was a big deal. I had to fly all the way across the country. I live in LA, it was in South Carolina. I’d never been there before, didn’t know any of the people other than Jamie and John Carpenter, of course. I got to meet a whole new cast of people and a whole new crew, but it was just wonderful. They treated me with such love and respect. It was a great time.”
Well, now that you have this information in front of you, feel free to point out which Michael is which whenever watching the latest Halloween with your fellow trivia buffs. If anything, it may be easier to spot the transitions here than in the original, as several guys donned the mask in that one, too.
