Exclusive Interview: Michael Myers Legend Nick Castle Talks Halloween
We talk to the actor behind Halloween's iconic villain...
'Okay here. Put this on.' It's strange to think that five small words were all it took to create the horror icon that is Michael Myers.
After having a chat with the man behind the mask from its very first iteration in 1978, Nick Castle, he revealed some of his insights into the franchise from his fateful entry 40 years ago. Interestingly, it was never even a role he auditioned for, and here he is 40 years later ready to jump back into action.
On set with John Carpenter in 1978 purely to get some Hollywood film experience, Castle was simply handed a rubber William Shatner mask painted white, to wear in exchange for hanging out during filming, and the rest is history.
"Well first of all John Carpenter was a class mate of mine at the University of Southern California film school, and we spent a lot of time working on films, and singing songs, and doing all kinds of stuff... When I found out he was gonna do Halloween, just coincidentally they were gonna shoot the movie just a half mile away from my house. So I said John I'm gonna stick on the set as long as you're gonna shoot down here, and he said 'Okay here. Put this on.' That's how I got the role!"
Castle is as down to earth as his story makes out, and a continued conversation with him saw excited chatter about the upcoming Halloween movie, as well as the joy of reprising the role that made him famous. Featuring in cameo as Michael Myers for a small portion of David Gordon Green's reboot, Castle appropriately stars in the moment that Laurie Strode - played by a returning Jamie Lee Curtis - meets Myers again for the first time.
Speaking of reuniting with members of the original cast, he said:
"It was just a hoot. It was so much fun, the first day I got on the set, Jamie saw me before I saw her and I heard this scream, of 'Castle!' She came running over, we hugged each other, and she just looked at me and said 'Is this nuts or what?'
Completely eradicating the previous nine movies in the series, Halloween 2018 is set as a sequel to the first movie alone, occurring 40 years later on from the fateful night in Haddonfield. Desperate to face her very real demon once more, Laurie Strode is set to face Michael Myers again, and this time - it'll be a fight to the death.
Whilst Castle is technically retired from the world of Hollywood, there was no way he was missing out on Green's homage to the 70s slasher, bringing his iconic head tilt back to life and celebrating years of nostalgia in the process.
There's plenty more interesting anecdotes from The Shape himself, which you can catch in the transcript below. Interviewing him about all things Halloween, Castle talks about his own experiences in the franchise, and how exactly he feels about playing one of the most renowned horror icons of all time - both then and now.