Halloween icon Nick Castle looked worlds away from supervillain Michael Myers as he made a rare public outing in LA this week.
Castle, now 77, first donned the iconic mask in the legendary 1978 film by John Carpenter – the first of a storied franchise – later reprising his role with Jamie Lee Curtis in 2018’s sequel, also named Halloween.
Director and screenwriter Castle cut a casual figure in a green top, jeans and neon sneakers, donning a baseball cap and shades to complete the look.
The star’s outing in Burbank aptly comes just days before Halloween.
Halloween follows Michael Myers after escaping from incarceration for murdering his sister when he was six years old.
Halloween icon Nick Castle looked worlds away from supervillain Michael Myers as he made a rare public outing in LA this week
Castle, now 77, first donned the iconic mask in the legendary 1978 film by John Carpenter (pictured) – the first of a storied franchise – later reprising his role with Jamie Lee Curtis in 2018’s sequel, also named Halloween
Psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is hot on Michael’s trail to detain him, whom he describes as ‘pure evil.’
After his escape, Michael returns to the town where the brutal slaying was committed.
However, he has already locked his eyes on new prey: Laurie (Curtis) plus her friends Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda (P.J. Soles).
Following Halloween’s success, the franchise has become legendary with an impressive 13 films – some which take place in different universes.
While John Carpenter and Debra Hill were at the helm for the first three Halloween films, Paul Freeman, Rob Zombie and Jason Blum have all come in and offered their own interpretations of Michael Meyer’s fate.
Castle was the first-ever actor to embody ‘the shape’ of Halloween villain Michael Myers.
Castle previously revealed he made just $25 a day for playing the titular role, adding to Vanity Fair: ‘That was a lot at the time.’
‘You have to remember: my interest in doing the film was being on set, so I could demystify the experience of filmmaking and directing.
Director and screenwriter Castle cut a casual figure in a green top, jeans and neon sneakers, donning a baseball cap and shades to complete the look
Castle was the first-ever actor to embody ‘the shape’ of Halloween villain Michael Myers
Castle previously revealed he made just $25 a day for playing the titular role, adding to Vanity Fair: ‘That was a lot at the time’
Halloween was Jamie Lee Curtis’s big screen debut. Since playing Michael Myers’s victim, Laurie, she has gone on to become an A-List actress
Eventually, he put his acting hat back on and returned for the latest Halloween trilogy helmed by director David Gordon Green
‘I expected to hang around the set for no money. But hey, $25 per day, and all I had to do was wear a rubber mask.’
He shared that the process of filming his role in the hit horror film was surprisingly simplistic.
‘It’s a mystery what John [Carpenter, who directed the first Halloween] saw in me and the way I moved,’ he told the outlet.
‘I asked John, “What is this character going to do?” And he said, “Just walk across the street.” I knew Michael’s movements weren’t going to be robotic. He was a real guy. He’s not rushing.’
After Halloween, he hung up his Michael mask and moved on from acting. While the famous mask was a keepsake from his days of playing villain, he revealed the sad way he lost track of the valuable.
‘I did have the original mask, when the movie was finished,’ Castle told Yahoo Entertainment.
‘Until [producer] Deborah Hill came back when they were about to do the second one [1981’s Halloween II] and said, “We can’t figure out how to do the mask the way it was done originally. Can we borrow your mask?” And I said, “Yes.” Last time I saw it.’
He added: ‘[It’s] unfortunate. There were [two or three] masks made, and one someone found and over time it really deteriorated and there’s nothing there anymore.’
The star is pictured in his mask with pet cat Michael Meowers
However, he still had the Hollywood experience he gained from Halloween and used that to propel his career in directing and writing.
He teamed up with Carpenter on the 1981 film Escape From New York. Castle wrote the screenplay while Carpenter directed.
Castle then went on to direct his first project, Tag: The Assassination Game (1982) and then found immense success with The Last Starfighter (1984).
He also tied the knot with actress Charlene Nelson in 1981, who would go on to star in both of these films.
In 2018, Castle revealed a sequel for the film was greenlit, but it never came to fruition.
Eventually, he put his acting hat back on and returned for the latest Halloween trilogy helmed by director David Gordon Green.
He returned to film one specific scene in which Laurie, Curtis’ character, sees him through a window.
‘It has all kinds of connotations, I think,’ Castle told USA Today of this pivotal moment.
Castle explained that he and Curtis had a heartfelt reunion and shared a hug.
‘She said, “Is this nuts or what?!” So that was kind of what it felt like: “What the hell, this is going on again 40 years later?”‘ he said of the moment.
After Halloween, he hung up his Michael mask and moved on from acting
He also made a cameo in 2022’s Halloween Ends, playing a creepy partygoer and recording Michael’s terrifying breathing sounds.
James Jude Courtney took on the role of Myers for the new franchise.
Castle’s lifelong attachment to the role of Michael Myers is bittersweet for Castle.
‘I know it will be the thing that’ll be my epitaph: They won’t say anything about my movies, I’ll be this guy in a rubber mask,’ he lamented.
‘There’s the sense that “Aw, (no), that’s gonna be me?” And then there’s the other side: I’m a horror icon, so that’s not so bad.’
