Jamie Lee Curtis makes her final appearance as Laurie Strode in Halloween Ends, facing off against Michael Myers for the last time.
Jamie Lee Curtis has filmed her final appearance as Laurie Strode in Halloween Ends, the thirteenth installment of the famous horror franchise. This is the role that launched her career 44 years ago.
In addition to blood, masks, and Curtis and Michael Myers actors Nick Castle reprising their roles for the last time, the film also makes a statement about contemporary society.
Curtis told that the Halloween flicks are “Trojan horses” camouflaged as horror pictures with social relevance.
She explained, “It’s a horror film with the fundamental theme that we’re monsters, that we’ve become monsters – what we do to victims, what we do to each other, the community is nearly nonexistent because we turn on ourselves.”
“In 20 years, you’ll think that David Gordon Green [director of Halloween Ends, 2021’s Halloween Kills, and 2018’s Halloween] was a genius – that he anticipated the women’s movement, the MeToo movement, by two years by writing a film about a woman who stood up and said, ‘This has happened to me. No more, two years before the social revolutions of George Floyd and January Sixth [the US Capitol attack], we produced a film about mob violence, about groups of people declaring that the system is broken and that they are reclaiming it.
And now we’ve made a movie about the lack of community and what we do to victims – just go on Twitter or any of these social media platforms and you’ll see what we do to each other, what we say to each other – this was supposed to be good, the internet was supposed to be incredible… but instead, it’s turned us into monsters.
Curtis, however, does not shy away from having an online presence, which is maybe uncommon for a celebrity of her status.
Curtis’s Twitter account alone has over 680,000 followers, and in addition to tweeting about her work, she also tweets her opinions, something that many A-listers avoid.
The actress stated, “I am the weapon of mass promotion, as I am referred to in some circles since I know how to drive the internet.”
“I’m licensed, I know how to drive, I know precisely what to say and do, and I know precisely what to block – I know which keywords to exclude from my feed.
“And I’ll let you in on a little secret: Don’t read anything, say what you need to say, and then get the f*** out.”
Halloween Ends is the concluding chapter of Laurie Strode’s story, one of the first “final girl” horror protagonists who would go on to impact countless others. Laurie is the sole survivor of serial killer Michael Myers.
Curtis claims that she owes everything to the original 1978 Halloween film, which impacted not only the film and horror industries.
“It has provided me with my entire existence and my entire creative life.
How did Halloween lead to Trading Places?
“And because John Landis developed a short film on horror film trailers and required a narrator, who would that be?” Oh, it would be Jamie, because I was the scream queen, but he hired me for Trading Places after meeting me and realizing I’m a complete lunatic and fool.”
Curtis claims that when John Cleese saw Trading Places, she was cast in A Fish Called Wanda, which led to other opportunities.
And not just her professional life was affected by Halloween.
“I was sitting next to [Halloween producer] Debra Hill when I saw my husband’s image in a magazine. If I hadn’t met Debra Hill, I wouldn’t have been sitting next to her, and I exclaimed, ‘Oh, I’m going to marry that guy!’ She responded, “Oh, yes, he’s an actor; I tried to cast him in a film; he’s with your agencies,” Curtis explained.
“I would have never hunted him up, but I contacted the agent the following day, left my number, and he never called me; I met him in a restaurant, but he had my number; I married him four months later, in the same year.”
How does that occur? Horror flicks.”
And even though this is the final picture in the franchise she credits for everything, Curtis claims she only experienced happy emotions during its production.
“I was looking forward to this picture because I knew it would be vastly different from the other two – the first two took place on the same night, they pick up instantly, and it’s one long thrill rush… And I realized that this was a whole different film, so I was excited by this concept.
“It struck me as a novel, which is also something that occurs in this picture… Laurie has gotten the help that Laurie has never gotten – she’s had psychiatric help, some trauma seminars, she’s learned to live, and when we first see her at the beginning of the film, she’s almost happy.
“And I knew that because on the first day of filming, we shot that scene at the store [near the beginning of the film], and I remember going back to my trailer at lunch with a sore face and wondering, ‘Did I get bitten by something?’ Then I looked in the mirror and realized it was because I was smiling. Laurie Strode hasn’t smiled in 44 years, she hasn’t smiled a genuine smile in 44 years, and here I am smiling!”
It takes a long time to portray a character, especially one as famous and beloved as Laurie Strode, forty-four years.
For many admirers, she serves as an example of “the ultimate last girl”: hunted by evil, yet finally able to fight back.
Curtis states that she will miss the affection of others for the role the most.
People love me because I represent someone they adore, and since they adore her, they also adore me.
“I receive this type of tag-team affection because they’ve invested in me everything they feel about her: Her boldness, courage, perseverance, and badass-ness.
“And perhaps you can say, ‘Well, I possess some of those traits,’ but Laurie possesses those qualities, and so do I, and it is those qualities that I will miss the most.”
Halloween Ends is currently in theatres.
