Halloween : Daeg Faerch and Tyler Mane Interview


DAEG FAERCH IS YOUNG MICHAEL MYERS AND TYLER MANE IS THE ADULT MICHAEL MYERS IN HALLOWEEN


Eleven-year-old Daeg Faerch is carving out quite a career for himself. He plays the young Michael Myers in the new version of horror classic Halloween. And he’s currently filming a superhero thriller, Hancock, with Will Smith. In four years, Daeg has notched up an impressive CV with appearances in 16 films.

Tyler Mane, 40, plays the adult Michael Myers in the new version of Halloween. A former wrestler, this imposing 6 foot 8 ins actor has starred in numerous movies including X-Men, Red Serpent and The Scorpion King.

Q: Did you watch the original film?

TM:
I saw the first film in like 1978 when it came out but I didn’t realise how big the franchise was. And as soon as I signed on I went and got the other films and took a look at them, all of them except for No. 3 which Michael Myers doesn’t appear in. My favourite is the ninth (laughs) this one!

Q: Daeg, you were just ten when you made this..

DF:
I’m old enough to get a kiss from Scout, I’ll say that.

Q: But there is some pretty horrible stuff that goes on in the film…

DF:
That’s why I’m not going to watch it, I’m only going to watch about ten or fifteen minutes in the beginning at the premier.

Q: But what was it like doing it?

DF:
Oh it was really, really fun.

Q: How did they make it fun?

DF:
Well the learning experience, just in case I have to do another killing movie, I know what to do, because I learned stunts and how to kill and stuff.

TM: It’s always good to have that in your bag of tricks! (laughs).

Q: What did Rob Zombie tell you to do with the scene when you are hitting the other boy with the wood?

DF:
Well he said, ‘you’re going to hit him in the shin and then beat him up!’ That’s pretty much it and I went from that.

Q: Who worked first in the production?

TM:
Actually, I don’t even know.

DF: I think I went first and then it was Tyler and then me again.

TM: I went and watched some of the things he did as the young Michael Myers just to see what he was doing and it was the scene where he beats another kid up with a log in the park, to get some of his movements and see how he was gong to approach the character. He got two thumbs up and I took it to the next level.

Q: You had some of the original Mike Myers in there as well…

TM:
Yeah, I definitely wanted to throw some of that in there for the fans because there are a lot of hard core fans that would expect to see those movements, so I wanted to do that, and then take it to the next level and show the people a little bit more than they had originally seen.

Q: What’s it like playing a character like that? At the end of the day do you go and have a beer and try and forget all about it?

TM:
You know, it’s kind of tough putting yourself into a mind frame like that. To get to that point I had to figure out why a guy would pull on a mask and want to kill somebody and continue to kill people. So what I did was I analysed what my motive was at that time and when I was done for the day I tried to separate it and go have a cigar and a glass of wine and get ready to get up and do it the next day.

Q: Was it weird acting with those masks on?

TM:
It’s very tough. The only way I got to portray any physicality was through my body movements and my eyes. And it was a great experience to be able to do that, to give life to the character. I’ve had several people ask if they had several different masks for his expressions and no, it was all me with my body movements.

DF: It was kind of difficult when I had the mask on and it was kind of stinky in there, too. (laughs) but the only time I really had my mask on was when I was killing so all I really had to do was give like an evil look. It was kind of easy.

Q: When did you know you wanted to act?

DF:
Since before I was born! I like every part of it, behind the cameras, in front of the cameras.

Q: Was it fun using the F word to the headmaster in that scene?

DF: Oh we did a lot of that. If you were holding in some anger, this was a great place to get it out.

Q: What’s the scariest film you’ve ever seen?

DF:
Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Q: You write and direct as well, is that right?

DF:
Yeah.

Q: How does that happen at your age?

DF:
Well, on set there’s a lot of hurry up and wait when you are on set so I’m standing there and watching and learning, going up and asking questions. And I have some pretty cool dreams so I wrote them up and yeah.

Q: And is it true you’ve written one about bullies? Was that from your own experience?

DF:
It’s totally about people that I know and how they get picked on and I get picked on and bullies.

Q: Did you get to keep any of the masks?

DF: The only got thing I got to keep was the clown costumes.

Q: You said you like to watch and learn when you are on set, what did you learn from Rob?

DF:
I learned that if you want to get some good stuff out of your actors you have be like ‘OK, let’s try this idea that you want but if it doesn’t work we’re doing my idea..’ and just kind of be laid back and relaxed.

Q: What kind of movies would you like to make?

DF:
I would love to do something like X-Men. I’d love to be the hero. I’ve got like 100 or so characters that I’ve made up and written down in a book.

Q: Tyler, what did you think watching Daeg at work?

TN:
You know, watching the rushes and seeing the finished film he does a great job, he’s a great psycho killer.

DF: I’ll take that as a compliment…(laughs)

Q: What have you got coming up next?

DF:
I’ve got a movie with Will Smith called John Hancock, it’s a superhero movie. I’m a French punk that cusses him out.

TM: I’ve got a couple of different projects that I’m talking to people about.

DF: I’m also doing a Mickey Rooney movie. It’s this movie about these kids that go to an old person’s house and celebrate Christmas there and he plays Santa Claus.

Q: Were you worried about taking on such an iconic figure like Michael Myers?

DF:
I had no idea who Michael Myers was before I got this.

TM: I never knew how big it was until I saw how many had been made and how people take to this. You know the first time you pull that mask on you realise you have to kick it up a notch and take it to the next level and I think we did that.

Q: Did you get squeamish at all about anything of the things you had to do?

TM:
No. I mean when you are reading it you kind take a step back a couple of times and go ‘damn that’s sick!’ but then you analyse the character and you realise yeah, it makes sense, in a weird sick way it makes sense for Michael Myers to do something like that because you are dealing with a twisted mind. You hand someone a mask and a butcher’s blade and 99.9 per cent of the people will just put it down and walk away but there is that odd person out there who will put it on and do something like that. Even if you are a sick psycho killer everybody has a soul and a thought process to take them to that point in their life with their situation. I hate saying his name, but look at someone like a Bundy, or someone, and there is a thought process even though it’s not normal. It would make no sense to a normal human being but to that person it does and it’s the same with Michael Myers.

DF: I think, as a kid Michael Myers was a completely normal, lovable kid. And then his family started going down hill, like the boyfriend being mean to him, his sister being mean to him and everything. He went downhill with them and kept on going and going.

TM: He’s a product of his environment to an extent…

Q: Were you picked on as a kid?

TM:
I was a tall skinny kid with glasses and braces..

DF: And I’m the girlie boy in school.

TM: Everybody goes through his or her awkward phase growing up and I had mine. I had reading disabilities that I had to overcome, being slightly dyslexic. I slightly withdrew in myself so I could see how a Michael Myers could be developed but not to that extent.

Q: There aren’t as many guys as big as you are. Has that been somewhat limiting at times?

TM:
I get that all the time. it’s very specific roles that I’m going to go out for and I’m fine with that.

Q: Surely the bullying will stop now..

DF:
Oh yeah and if they even try to pick on me I’ll give them the Michael Myers look.