Anthony Michael Hall didn't get a horror boost after '80s stardom. But it's here now in 'Halloween Kills'
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Anthony Michael Hall may have starred in a bunch of seminal pop-culture classics, from the original âVacationâ to John Hughesâ most beloved works, but he missed out on the rise of the slasher movie in the late 1970s and â80s.
Four decades later, Hallâs making up for lost time, picking up a baseball bat and facing off with iconic villain Michael Myers in âHalloween Killsâ (in theaters and streaming on Peacock now). A yearlong pandemic delay in the filmâs release gave the 53-year-old "Brat Pack" star extra time to go to âHalloween schoolâ and deep dive on the horror franchiseâs die-hard fan base via Google and YouTube.
Hall first saw the original âHalloweenâ on cable when he was about 11 or 12, at a time when the young actor already had quite a few commercials and stage work on his growing resume.
âI remember the night distinctly because my parents went out and when you're that young, it's a big deal,â says Hall, who loved the âvery simplistic, very primal aspects that (director John) Carpenter created.â
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After the 2018 hit âHalloweenâ caught up with heroine Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) 40 years after her fateful night of babysitting turned bloody in Carpenterâs original âHalloween,â the new âHalloween Killsâ sequel reintroduces more personalities including Tommy Doyle (Hall). The role was played by Brian Andrews in the first film and Paul Rudd in 1995âs âHalloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers,â but Hall takes on Tommy as a grown-up community leader in Haddonfield.
Hall describes him as âfull throttleâ: âHe's a fighter and he's scrappy and I love that he's kind of in the eye of the storm."
In the beginning of âHalloween Kills,â which picks up where the 2018 film ends, Tommy leads an annual toast to Laurie and the survivors, as well as the victims of the 1978 slaughter that forever altered their lives. Itâs a âmeaningful and importantâ moment that âgives the audience a refresher on the mythology of Myers,â Hall says. But when they hear the iconic villain has returned, the townsfolk "make this very simple and powerful choice to fight and to unify and to take (Michael) head on.â
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Tommyâs also the one who has to deliver the grim news to a hospitalized Laurie, who is suffering from a bloody stab wound courtesy of Michael, that her plan to trap him and send him to a fiery grave didnât work.
âWhen he says to her, âYou protected me when I was a little boy and I'm going to protect you,â that was very emotional and powerful,â Curtis recalls about Hallâs âbeautifully doneâ performance.
He was âthe right choiceâ to play Tommy, says co-star Judy Greer, a âgiant, enormous fanâ of Hallâs early movies. âIf you can't get the people who originated the roles, then it's really great to cast people who should have or could have.â
Ranked:All of the 'Halloween' movies (including the new sequel 'Halloween Kills')
Curtis and other rising stars of the time, including Kevin Bacon (âFriday the 13thâ) and Johnny Depp (âA Nightmare on Elm Streetâ), had early breakthrough parts in horror films, but for Hall, scary movies "really just didnât come my way, to be honestâ after his run of hit comedies like "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club."
But âI would've certainly entertained it," says Hall, who sampled the genre in a 2000s USA Network sci-fi show based on Stephen Kingâs âThe Dead Zone."
Hallâs next project is another throwback: He produces and stars in the coming-of-age film âThe Class,â a reimagining of âThe Breakfast Clubâ with Hall coming full circle as the assistant principal and Debbie Gibson as the drama teacher of six students forced to come to school on a Saturday and do presentations to pass her class.
âI think John Hughes would be very proud,â says Hall, who threw âa couple of little thingsâ into his character inspired by late friend Paul Gleason, the original hard-case assistant principal in âBreakfast Club.â
Not unlike his "Halloween Kills" character, from a young age Hall had âdetermination and that kind of fighting spirit,â says the actor, who also stars in the coming Netflix action movie "Trigger Warning" with Jessica Alba. But it wasnât until he started working with Hughes as a teenager that he was inspired to entertain âthoughts about my own future and just thinking, 'OK, I'm gonna just really go for it and really make it my career and my craft.'"
He can relate to Tommy, but looking back on his famous early roles, his âBreakfast Clubâ geek Brian Johnson was the biggest acting stretch for Hall: âI wasn't a nerd. I wasn't a shy kid. I wasn't a great student.â
He veered closer to Farmer Ted, who wooed Molly Ringwald in âSixteen Candles,â and Gary Wallace, who Frankenstein'd dream woman Kelly LeBrock into existence in âWeird Science.â Hall's wavy âWeird Scienceâ locks were Hughesâ idea, by the way.
âIâll see young kids today, like skater kids, and a lot of them are rocking that haircut," Hall says. "Right on, man.â