Jamie Lee Curtis Revealed Why She ‘Hated’ the ‘Halloween’ Movies: ‘I Loathe Them’
Actor Jamie Lee Curtis made a name for herself by being Hollywood’s original scream queen. She shot to fame thanks to her role in John Carpenter’s original Halloween as Laurie Strode. She also recently helped breathe new life into the franchise by starring in David Gordon Green’s modern Halloween sequels.
But although she’s always been grateful for the franchise, this was in spite of the fact that Curtis loathed them.
Jamie Lee Curtis didn’t believe this ‘Halloween’ sequel was too great
2018’s Halloween isn’t the first time Jamie Lee Curtis reprised her role in a contemporary take of the sequel. The actor stepped into the shoes of Lauri Strode in 1998’s Halloween: H20. Although the film enjoyed some critical and financial success, it wasn’t a sequel Curtis was proud of. This was because John Carpenter and Halloween producer Debra Hill weren’t a part of the film.
“Initially, I wanted it to be with John directing, Debra producing. And that didn’t happen, for myriad reasons. And John didn’t write it, so then we had to hire a writer, and then Debra had something else. By the end of it, I was the only one involved with it,” she once told Entertainment Weekly.
This led to Halloween H20 not coming out at all like she originally intended. It was an outcome Curtis wished she could have taken back.
“Now, to this day, I regret that I didn’t say to everyone, ‘If Debra Hill’s not the one producing this movie, I’m not doing it.’ But what ended up happening was, she wasn’t part of it, John wasn’t part of it, and I was still part of it, and it was a machine going down the road,” she said.
Because of this, Curtis didn’t believe that H20 ever reached its full potential.
“If you see that movie, it’s not a great movie, it’s a good movie, and that emotional intent is in the movie. But it was never what I hoped it would be for all these reasons that ended up being things that were out of my control,” she added.
Why Jamie Lee Curtis said she ‘hated’ the ‘Halloween’ movies
Getting into character for the Halloween movies isn’t a difficult process for Curtis. As some may know, Curtis isn’t a fan of horror films, if only because she doesn’t like being afraid. Despite starring in the movies, the Halloween franchise is no exception.
But in an interview with Silver, the actor explained that she channeled that hatred and fear into her Halloween performances. This was essential since she didn’t consider herself trained in her craft.
“I scare easily. I know it’s a silly thing to say, but I am an untrained actor. I’ve never been to acting class. I prepare emotionally, but that’s my job,” she said. “I scare easily. And I hate these movies, I loathe them, I do not like to be frightened. I think that genuine, emotional connection to being afraid… you are watching what is happening in real life, on-screen.”
Apart from her fear of films like Halloween, the actor also used real-life events to inform her character.
“There is no psychological preparation. It’s just… I’ve been traumatized, I’ve had sad things happen, and I’ve had violent things happen. So all of these reactions are just natural manifestations of my own experience,” she added.
Jamie Lee Curtis was glad David Green’s ‘Halloween’ avoided sequel baggage
The Halloween franchise has had many directors over the years. Each filmmaker took the franchise in their own direction, with some choosing to expand Michael Myers’ mythology. In an interview with Vogue, Curtis explained what made Green’s take on the franchise stand out.
“There are a lot of other people who’ve told this story–some better and with more depth than others,” she said. “And when you add layers of mythology like wallpaper, you lose the essence of what makes something like Halloween special. What was so great about David’s approach is that we went back to basics. We could ignore the baggage from the sequels and just focus on what else could’ve transpired in the 40 years between the 1978 and 2018 films.”
