Every Actor Who Played Michael Myers In The Halloween Movies

Halloween’s Michael Myers has appeared in many forms by many actors over the years since John Carpenter’s 1978 film. Here’s a breakdown of them all.

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The slasher genre’s original boogeyman, Michael Myers is the star of John Carpenter’s Halloween. He would go on to spawn one of the most successful horror franchises of all time with eleven films, several novels, comic books, and several video games.

First introduced in Halloween (1978), Michael Myers appears as a young boy who murders his sister Judith, then escapes from a mental institution and comes back to Haddonfield to hunt down more teenagers. From there he’s morphed into an unkillable boogeyman that haunts the nightmares of horror fans and non-horror fans alike, appearing in ten of the eleven Halloween films to date.

With so many iterations of Michael Myers to sort through, “The Shape” has been played by quite a few different actors. In addition to physical actors, there are also voice actors and partial body actors used throughout the franchise. Here are all the actors who have given life to Michael Myers over the years.

Nick Castle, Tony Moran, Tommy Lee Wallace, James Winburn, Will Sandin, & Debra Hill (Halloween 1978)

In the original Halloween movie released in 1978, Michael Myers was actually played by six different actors. As a young child in the beginning of the movie, 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 was actually played by Debra Hill, the co-writer and producer.

Adult Michael Myers, or ‘The Shape’ as he’s listed in the credits, was portrayed mostly by Nick Castle in all the scenes where the masked killer is stalking about. However, when Michael Myers is briefly unmasked by Laurie Strode, the bare-faced Michael was Tony Moran.

In addition, scenes in which Michael was required to break through barriers were performed by Tommy Lee Wallace; since he has 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 James Winburn donned the Michael Myers mask to perform the maneuver.

Dick Warlock & Adam Gunn (Halloween II)

In preparing to shoot Halloween II, John Carpenter and Debra Hill knew that due to the amount of action that Michael 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 appears again as a young boy, he was portrayed by Adam Gunn.

George P. Wilbur, Tom Morga, & Erik Preston (Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers)

After the box office failure of Halloween III: Season of the Witch and a long hiatus fraught with difficulties in how to resurrect Michael Myers, 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 Halloween film.

Morga, who happens to be the only actor to play Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface on screen, is Michael in the opening ambulance sequence, the gas station scene when he’s wrapped in gauze, in the dinner scene with Dr. Loomis, and in the drug store with Jamie Lloyd.

George P. Wilbur portrayed adult Michael Myers for the rest of the film, stalking both Jamie and Rachel. In flashbacks showing Michael Myers as a young boy, he’s portrayed by the young Erik Preston.

Don Shanks (Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers)

In Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Michael returns to hunt down Jamie Lloyd once more. In this film Michael Myers is played by Don Shanks, who was also known at the time for having played one of the Santas in the Silent Night, Deadly Night movies.

Shanks has a double role in Halloween 5, playing 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 this film, so it’s possible he could be behind the mask during some scenes, though that’s unconfirmed.

George P. Wilbur & A. Michael Lerner (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers)

The sixth installment of the Halloween series, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, sees George P. Wilbur return to the franchise as Michael Myers, playing The Shape through most of the film. However, because of test audience disapproval, Halloween 6 was 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 resulted in the continuity error of a slimmer Michael Myers appearing in the last third of the film.

Chris Durand (Halloween H20: 20 Years Later)

Halloween H20 takes place twenty years after the original attacks on Haddonfield’s teenagers, ignoring the events of Halloweens 4, 5, and 6, and serving as a direct sequel to the first two films. Michael Myers is played by Chris Durand as he comes to find Laurie Strode and her son at a boarding school where she serves as the dean.

Brad Loree (Halloween: Resurrection)

Halloween: Resurrection follows Michael Myers as he finally kills off Laurie Strode, then returns to Haddonfield to find that his derelict childhood home is used for a live internet horror show. In this film, Michael Myers is played exclusively by Brad Loree, though Busta Rhymes and cameraman Charlie, played by Brad Sihvon, both don a Michael mask at certain points in the film.

Tyler Mane & Daeg Faerch (Rob Zombie’s Halloween)

Rob Zombie’s reimagining of the original Halloween brought more human elements to Michael Myers, exploring his backstory and also ramping up the psychopath element. Because of this, a lot more screen time is devoted to the young Michael Myers, played by Daeg Faerch.

For the monstrous adult Michael Myers, Tyler Mane, also known for playing Rufus “RJ” Firefly, Jr. in Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects, took the role. A retired professional wrestler, Mane brought the size and strength to the role that Zombie wanted, while also having the stunt know-how from his wrestling background that allowed him to do anything Michael might need to do.

Tyler Mane & Chase Wright Vanek (Rob Zombie’ Halloween II)

In Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, Tyler Mane reprised his role as the adult Michael Myers, chasing after Laurie Strode and killing swaths of teens in his wake, while the young Michael Myers was played by Chase Wright Vanek. Daeg Faerch had originally signed on to reprise his role as the young Michael in this film, but was recast due to having grown quite a bit taller since the first movie.

James Jude Courtney & Nick Castle (Halloween 2018)

In the Blumhouse revival of Halloween, Nick Castle returned to his role as Michael Myers with actor and stuntman James Jude Courtney supporting. While it was originally announced by the production company that the role would primarily belong to Nick Castle, with Courtney being there to supplement, it was revealed after the movie’s release 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 received the role after being recommended by stunt coordinator Rawn Hutchinson for his ability to do both physical stunts and genuine acting. Director David Gordon Green explained to Courtney his vision for Michael Myers’ mannerisms as being a combination of a cat-like grace and Nick Castle’s original performance. As a result, Courtney modeled his portrayal by watching his cat, Parcival.

Frédéric Poirier (Dead by Daylight)

While Michael Myers appears in many video games, Dead by Daylight is the only game in which Myers is credited with a voice actor. Though Dead by Daylight’s version of Michael Myers holds 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.

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