The story of Michael Myers' iconic Halloween mask is well-known lore for fans of the franchise: Director John Carpenter instructed art director Tommy Lee Wallace to find a mask. Wallace found a Captain Kirk mask, painted it white, changed the hair and created Michael Myers' distinct look. Recently, William Shatner, who played Kirk and is the model for the mask, spoke in an interview about the moment he learned the scary mask was created from his face.
"I don't remember the exact moment, but I thought, 'Is that a joke? Are they kidding?'" the actor recalled in an interview on the YouTube channel Jake's Takes. "I saw the mask, probably in a picture, and I recognized it as the death mask that they had made for me." The actor also explained what the mask was created for on the set of Star Trek.
"They made a mask for my face, on Star Trek, made of clay so that I wouldn't have to be available for the prosthetics they put on my face," Shatner explained. "That mask existed in Star Trek, so somewhere along the line someone got that mask and made a mask of it for Halloween."
The Star Trek actor went on to explain the famous origin of Michael Myers' mask. "The story is: 'get me a mask,' said the director. So the guy ran into this Halloween store and grabbed this mask and it happened to be of me. That's the story I know. How true it is, I don't know."
The mask design for the most recent Halloween trilogy was intentionally faithful to the original design, meaning this mask also bears a resemblance to Shatner. In a promotion video for the recently released Halloween Kills, the revival series' special effects makeup artist spoke about all the details that had to be on the newest mask, emphasizing that it had to be perfect to please discerning fans.
"There's all these things it has to have," Christopher Nelson explained in the video. "I knew Halloween fans were passionate. I'm one of them." Nelson had to create a mask that looked like the original but had the weathering of the three decades that came in between the two films. According to the artist, John Carpenter joked, "looks like shit!" when he first saw the new mask.
Halloween Kills was released on Oct. 15, 2021 and is currently available both in theaters and streaming on Peacock. The final installment in the revival trilogy, Halloween Ends, will be released in October 2022.
Source: YouTube