How Jake Gyllenhaal Helped Convince Jamie Lee Curtis to Return to the ‘Halloween’ Franchise
Jamie Lee Curtis’ role in 1978’s Halloween is one of her most iconic. It fast-tracked her career and established her as horror movie royalty. Despite this, she didn’t think she would return to the Halloween franchise. As it turns out, audiences have her unofficial godson Jake Gyllenhaal to thank for her appearance in the reboot. She explained how he tracked her down to get her to say yes to the part.
Jamie Lee Curtis swore off horror movies
Curtis first appeared in Halloween in 1978. The film had a modest budget and a small crew, and it still became one of the biggest horror movies of all time. In total, there are 12 Halloween movies, though Curtis has not appeared in all of them. She was at the center of the series, but she decided to step away from it.
“The only pivot I’ve ever done in my entire life was make a decision after I did the sequel to Halloween — which was called Halloween II at the time — I said I was not gonna do any more horror films,” she told Vanity Fair.
Curtis made this decision in 1981 and managed to stay away from the genre until 1998. At that point, she returned to the Halloween franchise for Halloween H20. She agreed to the film because of how it dealt with trauma but ultimately found it slightly disappointing.
“H20 started out with best intentions, but it ended up being a money gig,” she told Variety. “The film had some good things in it. It talked about alcoholism and trauma, but I ended up really doing it for the paycheck.”
Jake Gyllenhaal tracked her down to convince her to take the role in 2018’s ‘Halloween’
Curtis appeared in 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection but decided she would not return to the series after that.
“I was in [Halloween: Resurrection], but very briefly, then I thought, ‘OK, I’m done,’” she said. “And then I’ve just been doing other work and having a really beautiful life and writing books for children, and then out of the blue, I get a call from Jake Gyllenhaal.”
Curtis refers to Gyllenhaal as her unofficial godson as he’s been a family friend for years. He’d just worked with filmmaker David Gordon Green, who would be executive producing 2018’s Halloween. According to Gyllenhaal, working with Green on the film Stronger was one of his career highs.
Curtis was on vacation in the mountains with her husband, Christopher Guest, when Gyllenhaal reached out. He urged her to take a call with Green about the new film. At his request, Curtis took the call and ultimately agreed to appear in the film.
Jamie Lee Curtis’ ‘Halloween’ franchise role is one she considers empowering
Curtis appreciates Green’s take on the Halloween franchise because it realistically portrays her character, Laurie Strode.
“The intention to make it was correct. It was to revisit what really happens to someone when that sort of level of trauma happens,” she said.
Curtis finds Laurie’s journey throughout the films empowering. Variety reported that she spoke of the character’s lasting legacy at the Venice Film Festival.
People “relate to Laurie because you are wounded too and you are fighting back against the demons in your life, and that you somehow look at me and Laurie and say, ‘I am Laurie.’”
