‘Halloween’: Nick Castle Details the “Fun Ride” of Defining Michael Myers

Many Halloween fans consider Nick Castle to be the defining performer of Michael Myers, having portrayed the killer in many of his masked scenes in the 1978 original. The actor recently reflected on the impact the character has had on his life, despite going on to be an accomplished filmmaker, and his first return to the franchise in four decades with last year’s sequel.

“I just find it to be just ironic that I have such a loyal fan following for something that was just so off-handed. It seems like it’s a perfect metaphor for careers in this business,” Castle shared with ComicBook.com. “It becomes very strange. I’m sure that this will be on my tombstone rather than any of the movies I directed or wrote. I don’t mean to say I did not take a hold of this thing and have fun with it. I do. I have a lot of fun with it, but I find it totally ironic.”

Following his work on the original film, Castle went on to direct films like The Last Starfighter, The Boy Who Could Fly, and Major Payne. While those experiences were rewarding in their own right, they didn’t earn Castle the same recognition as his contributions to the horror film.

“I think it’s fun. It’s pretty great to have an action figure of yourself, for instance. Who gets to have that? Not a lot of people,” Castle admitted. “I have a lot of fun with all my pals talking about it. Of course, in the last half dozen years, I’ve been going to horror conventions and finally meeting the fans on this and having a real blast with it. You get to meet ’em all, you could say, and you get some money too. So it’s been a rather unusual but, in the long run, just a really fun ride.”

Multiple performers brought Myers to life in the original film, including a young version of the character and an actor portraying the unmasked killer. Castle helped provide the intimidating physical presence of Myers, though he admits he was merely doing exactly as he was told.

“My only reason for being on the set was to kind of demystify the directing experience for me, because [director] John [Carpenter] was a pal, they were shooting the majority of this near my house, really, and he said, ‘Well, why don’t you just be the guy walking around in the mask and you’ll be here the whole time?’” Castle previously shared with ComicBook.com.

The actor had a brief cameo in last year’s sequel, which is out now on Digital HD and hits 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on January 15th.

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