Facing down a serial killer isn't what it used to be, and Jamie Lee Curtis knows this better than anyone. Forty years after her first brush with Michael Myers, the iconic actress is back for the latest Halloween. This time, the story ignores all the sequels and picks up where the original 1978 film left off, with Curtis’s character, Laurie Strode, ready for one final showdown.
“This was no walk in the park,” Curtis confessed to Entertainment Tonight. “Filming it was grueling. I ended up with a cracked rib by the time we wrapped. I was bruised and cut all over. But that's the nature of the game. If you don’t leave the set with a few battle scars, you’re probably not doing it right. To make this story real, you have to feel it, and that means getting a little banged up.”
The Final Chapter: Laurie Strode vs. Michael Myers
In this latest installment, Jamie Lee Curtis, now 59, reprises her role as Laurie Strode, the woman who has spent decades preparing for Michael Myers’ inevitable return. This time, she’s joined by Judy Greer, who plays Karen, Laurie’s estranged daughter. Karen was taken from Laurie when she was just a child and has mixed feelings about her mother’s relentless paranoia. But as the film unfolds, it becomes clear that Laurie’s fears are not just paranoia—they’re well-founded.
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For Curtis, Laurie Strode has always been a character close to her heart, and she understands why audiences feel such a strong connection to her. “Laurie was just a regular high school girl when Michael Myers came into her life,” Curtis reflects. “She was probably thinking about college, studying for the SATs, and planning her future. But then Michael Myers showed up, and everything changed in an instant. The rest of her life has been defined by that one terrifying night. Now, forty years later, Laurie knows Michael Myers will come back, and she’s determined to be ready—but no one else seems to believe her.”
(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
The Script That Convinced Her
At first, Curtis was hesitant when she heard about another Halloween movie and the possibility of her returning as Laurie Strode. Screenwriters Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green, who also directed, were eager to bring her back. “David was so enthusiastic when we talked,” Curtis recalls. “But I told him, ‘Don’t explain it to me—just send me the script, and I’ll let you know right away.’”
It didn’t take long for Curtis to realize this was something special. “I saw how they paid homage to the original while making it completely fresh and new,” she says. “I thought, ‘This is cool. I like it.’ It’s its own movie with its own complete history tied to the past, yet it’s set 40 years later. The two films, side by side, are perfect bookends, telling the same story with new generations in a way that’s just as iconic as the original Halloween.”
