Considering the long span of the Halloween franchise, knowing who plays Michael Myers is tough, especially with more than one person often playing the slasher killer in each movie. Most of the scenes in the original 1978 Halloween The film saw Michael hiding in the shadows before finally launching his attack on Laurie Strode and her friends. As a result, many people filled Michael’s shoes for the movie. Over the years, there have been 13 movies starring Michael Myers.
As the franchise rolled on, the masked killer took on a more prominent role and a few actors became known for portraying the man referred to in the Halloween Scripts like the form. The movies included the original timeline, an alternate timeline where Lori died and her daughter Jamie Lloyd became the final girl, another where Lori lived and Michael tried to kill her, yet another with Rob Zombie’s reboot, and finally the last David Gordon Green movies. This allowed no less than 21 different Michael Myers actors to join the franchise.
Nick Castle, Tony Moran, Tommy Lee Wallace, James Winburn, Will Sandin, & Debra Hill
Halloween 1978
- Release date
-
October 27, 1978
- Figure
-
Donald Bittens, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Keyes, PJ Soles, Kyle Richards, Charles Siphers
- runtime
-
91 minutes
In the original Halloween In the movie released in 1978, six different actors played Michael Myers. As a young child at the beginning of the film, Michael is played by Will Sandin. In the first-person camera sequence when the young Michael takes a knife from the kitchen and goes upstairs to kill Judith, Michael’s hand that comes on screen to take the knife is actually that of Deborah Hill, the co-writer and producer. The adult Michael Myers is mostly portrayed by Nick Castle in all the scenes where the masked killer is stalking his victims.
However, when Michael Myers is briefly unmasked by Laurie Strode, the bare-faced Michael is Tony Moran. In addition, scenes in which Michael is required to break through barriers were done by production designer Tommy Lee Wallace. Since he created many of the props used in the film, he knew the best way to destroy them. Finally, for Michael’s climactic fall from the bedroom terrace, stuntman Jacob Winburn donned the Michael Myers mask to perform the maneuver so that no one was hurt during the final stunt.
Dick Warlock and Adam Gunn
Halloween II
Halloween II is a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween starring Jamie Lee Curtis. In the sequel, Laurie Strode is transported to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital to recover from her injuries, but Michael Myers continues to hunt her down. Halloween II is also the film that established Michael and Laurie are siblings, which would become one of the most controversial twists in the Halloween franchise.
- Release date
-
October 30, 1981
- Director
-
Rick Rosenthal
- Figure
-
Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Jeffrey Kramer, Lance Guest
- runtime
-
92 minutes
In preparing to shoot Halloween IIJohn Carpenter and Deborah Hill knew that due to the amount of action that the iconic villain would be a part of, a professional stunt actor would be the best choice for the role of Michael Myers. Dick Warlock, who also served as the stunt coordinator on Escape from New York And as Kurt Russell’s personal stuntman for over 25 years, was chosen for the role. For flashbacks in which Michael Myers is again as a young boy, he was portrayed by 14-year-old Adam Gunn.
George P. Wilbur, Tom Morga, & Eric Preston
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
- Release date
-
October 21, 1988
- Director
-
Dwight H. Little
- Figure
-
Danielle Harris, Elli Cornell, Donald Pleasence, Beau Starr, Michael Pataki, Tom Morga, George P. Wilbur
- runtime
-
92 minutes
After the disappointing box office of Halloween III: Time of the Witch (which did not feature Michael Myers) and a long hiatus filled with difficulties in how to resurrect the slasher killer, he finally came back to terrify audiences once again in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. George P. Wilbur and Tom Morga shared the role of Michael in the fourth film.
Morga plays Michael in the opening ambulance sequence, the gas station scene when he is wrapped in gauze, the dinner scene with Dr. Loomis, and in the drug store with Jamie Lloyd. George P. Wilbur portrays the adult Michael Myers for the rest of The film stalks both Jamie and Rachel, in flashbacks showing Michael Myers as a young boy, he is portrayed by nine-year-old Erik Preston.
Don Shanks
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
- Release date
-
October 13, 1989
- Director
-
Dominique Othenin-Girard
- Figure
-
Donald Bittens, Danielle Harris, Eli Cornell, Bea Starr, Wendy Kaplan, Tamara Glynn
- runtime
-
96 minutes
in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael MyersMichael returns to hunt Jamie Lloyd once more. In the film, Michael Myers is played by Don Shanks, who was also known at the time for playing one of the Santas in the Silent night, deadly night Movies.
Shanks has a double role in Halloween 5Playing both Michael Myers and the mysterious Man in Black who attacks the police station and breaks Michael out of his cell. It should also be noted that George P. Wilbur is credited for stunts performed in the film, so it is possible that he may be behind the mask during some scenes, although this is unconfirmed.
George P. Wilbur & A. Michael Lerner
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
- Release date
-
September 29, 1995
- Director
-
Joe Chappelle
- Figure
-
Donald Pliance, Paul Rudd, Marian Hagan, Mitch Ryan, Devin Gardner, JC Brandy, George P. Wilbur
- runtime
-
87 minutes
The sixth installment of the Halloween movie series, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, George P. Wilbur returns to the franchise as Michael Myers, playing the form through most of the film. However, due to the disapproval of test audiences, Halloween 6 is rushed back into production. Large portions of the film were re-shot with A. Michael Lerner replacing George P. Wilbur as Michael because the studio wanted the villain to appear less bulky. This change results in the continuity error of a slimmer Michael Myers appearing in the final third of the film.
Chris Durand
Halloween H20: 20 years later
- Release date
-
August 5, 1998
- Director
-
Steve Miner
- Figure
-
Jamie Lee Curtis, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, Adam Hann-Byrd, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Janet Leigh, Josh Hartnett, LL Cool J, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
- runtime
-
85 minutes
Halloween H20 Takes place 20 years after the original attacks on Haddonfield’s teenagers, ignoring the events of Halloween 4, 5 and 6, and serves as a direct sequel to the first two films. Michael Myers is played by Chris Durand when he arrives to find Laurie Strode and her son John at a boarding school where she serves as the dean.
This brought the Halloween Franchise returned to its roots and allowed fans to cheer on Lowry once again as she battled form. Except Halloween H2ODurand worked almost exclusively as a stuntman on movies like The Crow, Pearl HarborAnd Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Brad Lowry
Halloween: Resurrection
- Release date
-
July 1, 2002
- Director
-
Rick Rosenthal
- Figure
-
Rick Rosenthal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brad Loree, Busta Rhymes, Bianca Kajlich, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Ryan Merriman, Sean Patrick Thomas, Tyra Banks
- runtime
-
94 minutes
Halloween: Resurrection Follows Michael Myers as he finally kills off Laurie Strode, and returns to Haddonfield to find that his haunted childhood home has been used for a live Internet horror show. In the film, Michael Myers is played exclusively by Brad Loree, although Busta Rhymes and Cameraman Charlie, played by Brad Sihvon, both don a Michael mask at certain points in the film. Like most of the Michael Myers actors, Loree was mostly a stuntman in movies, with work in Jennifer’s body, Cabin in the woodsAnd these Play child’s play Reboot in 2019.
Tyler Mane & Daeg Faerch
Rob Zombie’s Halloween
- Release date
-
August 31, 2007
- Figure
-
Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris, William Forsythe
- runtime
-
110 minutes
Rob Zombie’s reimagining of the original Halloween Bringing more human elements to Michael Myers, exploring his backstory and ramping up the psychopath element as well. Because of this, much more screen time is devoted to the young Michael Myers, played by Daeg Faerch. For the monstrous adult Michael Myers, Taylor Mane, also known for playing Rufus “RJ” Firefly, Jr. In Rob Zombie’s The devil’s rejectiontook the role.
A retired professional wrestler, Mane brought the size and strength to the role that Zombie wanted, and also with the skill knowledge of his wrestling background that allowed him to do anything that Michael might need to do.
Taylor Mane and Chase Wright Vank
Rob Zombie’s Halloween II
- Release date
-
August 28, 2009
- Figure
-
Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Malcolm McDowell, Sherry Moon Zombie, Danielle Harris
- runtime
-
105 minutes
In Rob Zombie’s Halloween IITyler Mann returned to his role as the grown-up Michael Myers, chasing down Laurie Strode and killing scores of teenagers in his wake, while the young Michael Myers was played by Chase Wright Wank. Daeg Faerch originally signed on to reprise his role as the young Michael Myers actor in the film but was recast due to having grown quite a bit taller since the first movie. Faech was 12 when he played Michael Myers Halloween While Vanek was 13 when he took the role in Halloween II.
James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle & Airon Armstrong
Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022)
- Release date
-
October 18, 2018
- Director
-
David Gordon Green
- runtime
-
106 minutes
In the Blumhouse revival of HalloweenNick Castle returned to his role as Michael Myers 40 years after he originated the role, with actor and stuntman James Judd Courtney supporting him. Although it was originally announced by the production company that the role would primarily belong to Nick Castle, with Courtney there to supplement, it was revealed after the release of the movie that most of the screen time shows Courtney behind the Michael Myers mask . Castle appears as Myers in the window scene and is responsible for Michael’s breathing sounds.
Courtney got the role after being recommended by stunt coordinator Rawn Hutchinson for his ability to do both physical stunts and genuine acting (via The morning sun). Director David Gordon Green explained to Courtney his vision for Michael Myers’ mannerism as a combination of a cat-like grace and Nick Castle’s original performance. The two also returned in the sequels, Halloween kills And Halloween ends. Additionally, Airon Armstrong signed up for Halloween ends To do the stuntwork in the flashback scenes to the 1978 movie.
Frédéric Poirier
Dead by daylight
While Michael Myers has appeared in many video games, Dead by daylight is the only game in which Myers is credited as a voice actor. Although Dead by daylight Version of Michael Myers keeps true to the original killer in Halloween and never speaks in the game, his breathing and grunts are done by Frédéric Poirier, an animator and composer known for his work on Hitman: Contracts And Hitman: Blood money.
Who was the best Michael Myers?
Given that the actors who play Michael Myers are often silent behind the iconic mask, it is impressive that a number of them stood out in the role. Those who have seen each Halloween Movie understand that there are some films in which Michael is more effective. However, when choosing who is the best Michael Myers, there are various factors to consider, but the most important of course is which version of the masked horror movie killer is the scariest.
Although there have been hints of supernatural aspects to Michael Myers in past movies, Tyler Mane’s version of the character in the Rob Zombie movies was the closest the character felt to a horror movie monster. Mane’s massive size made for the most imposing Michael Myers as he appeared as an unstoppable force of evil who used his brute strength to deliver some of the most brutal kills in the Halloween Franchise.
However, while Mane’s version is the most physically intimidating, Nick Castle’s take on “The Shape” in the original movie set the benchmark for the franchise and created a horror movie icon. Although he may not seem as impossibly strong or as frighteningly large as Mane’s version, Castle has Michael Myers that eerie quality that he is just a shape moving through the shadows.
The physicality of the role was key to how effective the villain was, as there was a mindlessness to his actions that gave the character the emotional detachment that made him all the more terrifying. While the mask helps a lot, Castle proved that the one under the mask is instrumental in Halloweens success.