Jamie Lee Curtis credits “Halloween” as the movie that helped launch her career and now after 44 years she says goodbye to the franchise for the last time…
There’s a chance Jamie Lee Curtis would have become a massive star without being cast in John Carpenter’s “Halloween” back in 1978 but don’t count her among the people betting on it.
As she plays the role of Laurie Strode for the final time with the release of “Halloween Ends,” Curtis admits that just about every success she’s had in her career can be traced back to the role she won in a low-budget, independent horror film from a little known director and his writing and producing partner Debra Hill.
“Everything good in my life can be traced back to Laurie,” Curtis wrote in People. “I was with the writer of the original Halloween when I saw my husband of 37 years for the first time. Debra Hill and I were on my couch in West Hollywood in 1984. I opened up an issue of Rolling Stone, saw Christopher Guest in a Spinal Tap story and said, “I’m gonna marry that guy.” (I did, six months later.)
As I write this, I keep connecting the dots. If I hadn’t been in Halloween, I wouldn’t have met John Landis, the director who put me in Trading Places and showed the world I can be funny. That got me A Fish Called Wanda. That led to True Lies, which led to Freaky Friday. Dot connected, dot connected.”
Curtis remained faithful to the “Halloween” franchise throughout her career including an immediate sequel that was shot to the original film and then returning 20 years later for “Halloween: H20.” Then she was approached to reprise the role again for 2018’s “Halloween” from writer and director David Gordon Green, who intended to make a direct sequel to the original film from 1978.
That movie spiraled into a trilogy that concluded with “Halloween Ends,” which Curtis has made clear will be her final film with the franchise, but it all started with the moment she got cast as a babysitter named Laurie Strode who gets stalked by a faceless murderer named Michael Myers.
“Today, the fantastically creative life I get to have — I’m a director, producer; I run a company named Comet Pictures; I produce podcasts — and all the wonderful films I’ve done recently (Knives Out, Everything Everywhere All at Once), all of it is because of Laurie,” Curtis said. “And a filmmaker named David Gordon Green. My godson Jake Gyllenhaal introduced me to David, who had an idea for what had happened to Laurie. He gave her a family — a broken and bruised one but a family nonetheless — led by Judy Greer and Andi Matichak. The final three movies became a trilogy, films about female trauma and empowerment. Dots connected AGAIN!
“I still can’t tell you why people like to be scared. I certainly don’t. I can’t tell you why people flock to horror films. (Is it feeling the collective fear and experiencing release through screaming?) I can’t tell you why Laurie Strode became O.G. Final Girl. I assume it has something to do with her intelligence and strength of character, quick mind and profound bravery.”
While it seems likely that the “Halloween” franchise will be resurrected again in the future, Curtis won’t be a part of it after committing to her final time playing Laurie with “Halloween Ends.”
It’s been an emotional time for the veteran actress because most roles don’t span decades much less involve appearances across numerous films in the same franchise but Curtis always seemed to find her way back to “Halloween” no matter how many years passed.
Now she has to put all of that to bed for the last time and it hasn’t been easy.
“It’s now the end for Laurie and me,” Curtis said. “I’m weeping as I write this. I’m going to miss her. Movies are make-believe, but this is my real life. Mine has been made better by her. What I can tell you is that I now know the reason why I’m so good in horror films. It is because I’m not acting. When I look scared in a movie it’s because I am scared. I am scared right now, as I hang up my bell-bottoms and say goodbye to Halloween.
“Life is scary. But Laurie taught me that life can also be beautiful, filled with love and art and life! Thank you all for MINE!”
“Halloween Ends” is currently playing in theaters. You can listen to our full review on the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead.
