When Scout Taylor-Compton was younger, her uncle would don the iconic Michael Myers mask and scare the hell out of the actress. Years later, when she became a part of horror franchise history playing Laurie Strode in Rob Zombie's
Halloween that memorable piece of latex and hair would come back to haunt her yet again.
"I hate that mask so much," she says, her voice cut with an ounce of revulsion to prove her point.
"By filming the movie, it freaked me out the first time, but now I'm used to it. It's not really scary."
The 20-year-old star of the highly controversial update of John Carpenter's film is reprising her role as Strode for Zombie's
H2. And if you thought the mousy innocent high school student of the remake, who cracked sexual jokes using a bagel, was a departure from Jamie Lee Curtis' virginal representation of Strode, wait until you get a load of Taylor-Compton in the sequel.
ShockTillYouDrop.com joins the actress, post-dinner, on the set of
H2 nearly five months before the film's August 28th release. It's a frigid night in Newborn, Georgia where the crew is shooting and she retires for a spell to her trailer dressed in a flannel robe, a humorous contradiction to the concealed display of sex appeal beneath: A black French maid's costume, shredded black stockings and pointy-toed boots. The ensemble is tied together by blood, literally from head to toe. Crimson streaks adorn her pale face like war paint.
"Do you mind if I smoke," she asks. I don't. There are cartons around the room. She finds a cigarette in one, but doesn't light it. Instead, she hops on a nearby counter and perches there with the cigarette in hand.
"The first time I heard about Halloween 2, there were two French directors [Inside's Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury] doing it and I was hesitant," she admits.
"Then Rob e-mailed me and said, 'Hey, I'm doing this film but don't tell anybody, it hasn't been set down yet.' Then he called me and said, 'We're doing this,' and I hadn't read the script until the day before I was leaving. All he said was 'Be ready to kick ass.' I had no idea what the script was about until I read it on the plane. I had no idea what Laurie was going to go through, then I was like 'Holy shit, this movie's about me.' I guess I got to be prepared."
The actress says she was relieved two years had passed before she was asked back for the sequel. Although she has yet to experience the back-to-back filming some franchise films are wont to do, Taylor-Compton agrees time off from Strode was healthy - especially since the sequel also picks up two years later after her character was thrown from the second floor of a house with her masked brother. That's an experience bound to screw anyone up, Strode is no exception.
"It's just really intense what she's going through [in the sequel]," Taylor-Compton explains.
"She's happy one moment and in the next she's yelling at the people she loves and she's crying. She's going through these bipolar moments. [Rob] definitely wanted to see my character go into these really dark places by little pieces here and there." The result surprised both the director and his actress.
"I did this scene with Margot Kidder and we had to do both of her scenes in one day. The first scene is me with the psychiatrist expressing my feelings - and I just told Danielle Harris [Annie Brackett] I hate expressing my feelings. And then here I am developing this friendship with my psychiatrist, but then I just freak out and I go apeshit on her. I yell at her and scream at her and it was so empowering. Rob just looked at me and said, 'Oh my God, I didn't know you had that in you.' There are a lot of things I didn't know I had in me and discovered while I was filming this movie."
An outburst during a visit to the psychiatrist is just the tip of the iceberg. Strode, this time out, has emotional angst pulling at her on a myriad of levels. For instance, she's still in the dark on how she's connected to Myers when the film begins.
"I don't know certain elements about it. I know all of my friends are dead, my parents are dead and it's two years later and here's this run down Laurie Strode. And she learns these things and it's more and more adding to her. She doesn't know how to deal with it." Her internal darkness materializes externally as shown in recent photos of Strode on the set that were posted by Zombie on his MySpace page.
"Those are my boots and people online were saying they were white trash, and I was like 'Hey, those are my f**kin' boots!' She's messed up, what do you expect? The first time we were trying on wardrobe, the wardrobe people got it totally wrong and Rob came into the session and was like 'What the fuck, she's run down her family's been murdered, make her look grungy.' So we did and she totally kicks ass and I'm taking all of the clothes home with me."
Strode isn't the only one with a new look. Big bro Michael Myers (returning actor Tyler Mane) spends most of his time sans the jumpsuit and mask and sports a pretty impressive beard.
"It's quite different. They had filmed with Tyler before me and I had heard things about a jacket and the mask. I hadn't necessarily seen it until two weeks into shooting. It was quite shocking, I think it's scarier than his look in the first one. It freaks me out a lot more than the suit and the mask. It's him trying to hide himself and it's a different emotion I think."
On this note, the unit publicist pops into the trailer and requests we wrap it up. Taylor-Compton apologizes for not being able to delve much further into the dynamic Strode shares with Myers this time out, but she teases,
"It's something I don't think the audience is going to expect at all."
Comments
Posted by: danny glover on April 10, 2009 at 04:20:46
wow... i dont like where this is going. mike with out the mask and with out the jump suit, having a jacket? what is this the remake of friday the 13th rob you are going to kill halloween forever. and ur wrong girl this will be white trash, i hate the fact that rob zombie got to remake the halloweens cuz hes going to just kill it. and to akad for letting this happen to what ur father worked so hard to preserve you should be ashamed of yourself, ASHAMED!! at first i was like ok zombie is back and this could be good. now i see it going to be trash no mask or jump suit this is no longer a halloween movie. pretty much this is what it is going to be like... the beginning will mimic part one and will be cool, and as you go along mike will lose the mask and turn in to a big bearded biker chasing Laurie who in return is a messed up drug snorting slut. zombie its ok to make movies but when you base them on what goes on in ur own life not every one wants to watch that.
Posted by: danny glover on April 10, 2009 at 04:22:37
and im boycotting this movie.
Posted by: Jimmy Futres on April 10, 2009 at 04:33:52
I think it's best to try and forget that this is a Halloween sequel, we need to just see how it turns out and from the above article it is sounding more and more intriguing. I like the direction they are taking with Laurie Strode and will be interested to see what happens with Danielle Harris also.
Posted by: JR on April 10, 2009 at 07:20:00
It doesn't really matter if michael myers dawns the mask or not they said that he has been living by himself in the woods kinda similar to an old hermit.After a while his hair grows longer hense the beard and longer hair, but i have faith in rob to give us another ****ing amazing remake. I loved the first one and how they went into his back story and told why he does what he does. This one will take the story of laurie further just like the last one did the same for michael everything i heard so far sounds badass keep it up rob looking forward to the release!!!
Posted by: djblack1313 on April 10, 2009 at 08:45:35
i'm apprehensive with this movie but i'm optimistic it will STILL be a good horror movie. i agree w/ Jimmy Futres that it might be best to just look at this as a horror movie and NOT a HALLOWEEN movie. fingers crossed!
Posted by: Logan on April 10, 2009 at 10:04:39
This actually sounds really interesting,I would love to see Strodes character get pissed off and maybe try and get some kind of revenge.As far as the jacket and the beard thing,oh well,**** happens.I also think that the fact of him living in the woods for a couple of years and returning sounds kinda cool.It's better than having a bunch of old ass druids try and control him and Mike coming out only when there is a certain constellation in the stars.I gotta agree with djblack and Jimmy.I'm just going to look at it as another horror movie from Rob and not as just another Halloween.Count me in.
BTW,Glover,stop screaming boycott,that **** is getting old real quick and besides,it's not going to do any good.The movies coming out wither you want it to or not.There are plenty of Halloween movies to rent and watch besides having to go to the theater if thats the kind you really want to see.
Posted by: General Gokemidoro on April 10, 2009 at 10:25:51
I'm couldn't be happier that Zombie is doing something totaly differnt. Who wants to see a repeat of the original series? Besides the first one the Halloween franchise is pretty lame, uninspired and boring. Like his first Halloween movie Zombie is giving it some much needed attitude.
Thank you Danny Glover, I hope you make true on your claim to boycott this movie. Your closed mind probably couldn't handle it.
To the naysayers: Just keep repeating It's Only a Movie, It's Only a Movie.
Good or bad the sun will still rise, Tacos will still taste great, Danielle Panabaker will still be a lousy actress, Trick r treat will still be in limbo and horror movies good and bad will keep coming.
Posted by: dude on April 10, 2009 at 10:26:11
Interesting. A Michael trying to hide himself is really a curious idea for me. It's as if he hides himself from the world until Halloween, when he can put his costume on again. As for Laurie, this seems like quite a logical progression of her character.
Posted by: TOOOOOOOONIE on April 10, 2009 at 11:42:00
I AGREE BOYCOTTTTTT THIS PIECE OF GARBAGE
Posted by: MistAh BlistAh on April 10, 2009 at 11:53:45
We have to look at this just as another horror movie and not a Halloween movie, because well, this is not a Halloween movie.
I don't why people would expect to see a Halloween movie while going to see the sequel to the Halloween remake. Gawd, people these days...
Posted by: ando on April 10, 2009 at 12:11:44
this is gonna be the best movie i will ever see
Posted by: RJ Scriber on April 10, 2009 at 12:31:45
Jimmy Futres - I agree, to an extent. But, why couldn't they just name it something totally different? I mean, people are going to see it because it is Halloween part 2. And, in case that was the studio's plans all along, that's pretty weak. The studio that is...
General Gokemidoro - GORDITAS!
Posted by: RJ Scriber on April 10, 2009 at 12:38:56
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it seem that the Grungy Emo-Stripper, is being hunted by Grizzly Adams on Halloween, two years later? Why not the next year. Why does it skip a year?
Posted by: GammaBob on April 10, 2009 at 12:40:17
Oh no, Danny Glover and Toooonie are boycotting this movie, I'm sure that's really going to keep Zombie up at night, lmao!
Posted by: djblack1313 on April 10, 2009 at 12:45:23
General Gokemidoro, aside from sounding like a d!ick, you lost ALL credibility by saying Danielle Panabaker is a "lousy" actress. if you ever saw her in other roles (like her guest spot on L&O:SVU) you'd know you're way off. take care.
Posted by: Jason138 on April 10, 2009 at 13:08:24
Can we cut the "stop looking at it as a Halloween movie" crap now please. If that is what you need to tell yourselves to buy into one bad idea after another, fine, but enough!
Fact is that this is a Halloween movie and with that comes certain expectations. Seems to me RZ does not care to meet any of them. Wonder what the reaction to the Dawn of the Dead remake would be if Zack Snyder announced there would be NO ZOMBIES in his film. Or if the Texas Chainsaw remake sequel decided to put Leatherface in a trench-coat and cowboy hat, and instead af his iconic chainsaw the film maker decided to arm him with a Harpoon. As silly as all that sounds, that is esentially what RZ is doing and most of you could care less. Truth must be that most of you are Rob Zombie fans AND NOT Halloween fans.
Posted by: General Gokemidoro on April 10, 2009 at 13:18:07
I didn't know I had and credibility nor to I want any. I don't take this leaving retarded comments crap with any seriousness what so ever. But please Private DJblack keep saving the horror world from total doom with your comments. Il Fulci e l'orrore italiano vive!!
Posted by: Space Monkey on April 10, 2009 at 13:23:15
Ok...I'm going to see this movie regardless, but I really, reeally hope they don't completely botch the Michael Myers character. What was said above doesn't give me much hope that they did the character justice.
Posted by: Dutch on April 10, 2009 at 13:24:03
Boycott, Boycott, Boycott! This isn't what I want it to be. Myers isn't right. Laurie isn't right. Where is Jamie Lee? Why couldn't Michael Bay be directing this? Then I wouldn't have to worry. Why does this film have to do anything new? Bring back the Druids. I hate beards, except John Carpenter's; his is nice. It isn't all bushy and unkempt. Why isn't Laurie cute and innocent? Her folks were killed by a homicidal maniac who turns out to be her brother. So what? Does that mean she has to go all emo? I'm so frustrated I could cry.
Posted by: Dutch is Still a Douche on April 10, 2009 at 13:44:38
Dutch is still a douche.
Dutch went to a Rob Zombie concert, and Zombie told Dutch he looked like a douche. Dutch went home a happy douche because his idol, Rob Zombie, called him a douche.
100% True Story
Posted by: Logan on April 10, 2009 at 13:51:41
I am a major Rob Zombie fan and a major Halloween fan.Have been fans of both for many years.I have watched all the Halloweens numerous times since I was like 6 years old.Loved the theme music,loved the mask,and loved all the creepiness that goes along with it.Yeah,I know I'm kinda contradicting myself when I say that I'm going to treat it as just another horror movie,when in fact,it is Halloween 2.
However,just because Zombie is doing these movies does not mean that the originals are not also still good.I'm just not taking this as serious as some of the other folks on this comment page.All this talk about Rob killing the Halloween series is bull****.Halloween Resurrection and the death of Moustapha(however you spell his name)killed it,not Rob Zombie.Zombie is just taking the movie into a whole new direction.Some will consider it white trash because that is the way todays society looks at disfuntional families like what Mikey came from.Which is also what happens to be a lot of families going through poverty seem like.
I really don't mind him coming from a disfunctional family,living off the land in the woods for a couple of years,and them reappearing.It actually sounds more believable than him living under his house and living of rats.
Basically,I just have an open mind and save final judgement for after I see it.Hell,for all we know,some off this maybe false info that he's leaking out just to **** with people.
Posted by: Dutch is Still a Douche is an Even Bigger Douche on April 10, 2009 at 13:51:50
Enough said.
110% true story
Posted by: RJ Scriber on April 10, 2009 at 14:05:24
Those are people's opinions, Dutch. They're not wrong for stating them. Besides, when it's a franchise like Halloween, people are allowed to panic.
Jason138 - I agree.
Posted by: Dutch is Still a Douche on April 10, 2009 at 14:08:03
I think Dutch is upset because he does not like that people have opinions that differ from him. It is ok, once you enter the real world, and leave grade school, you will learn this. If not, you will become a failure, if your not one already.
Dutch is still a Douche
Posted by: Man in Black on April 10, 2009 at 14:14:37
Everybody has an opinion.That's just a lame ass excuse that you people use so you can make your lame selves be heard.That stuff Dutch is talking about does sound like a bunch of damn cryin and not opinions.Jack asses
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