[Interview] Diva Tyler on Playing Sondra in ‘Halloween Kills’
First introduced as the Haddonfield Cemetery caretaker in the 2018 Halloween movie, Diva Tyler is back to reprise her character, now developed into “Sondra,” in the highly anticipated sequel Halloween Kills, and we recently talked to Tyler about her experiences on both sets, joining the Halloween franchise legacy, and more.
In our exclusive new video interview, Diva describes her newly expanded character Sondra, telling HDN, “From the first movie, she was just on a job and you could tell she had sort of dry humor. And that was what you got see about her, and that’s just it, how she was jut going through the motions, this is her job, she does it every day. That was it. With that it’s like how you work with someone and they can be so different at home. She came to life in a way that you couldn’t foresee in the first (film).
“You see a lot more life and a lot more personality come out. I think she’s fun. I could say that under the same circumstances and situation, that very well could be part of my personality.”
On working with her new on-screen husband, Lenny Clarke, Diva says, “Lenny is a comedian by profession, but he got right into his character. It was easy to see our life with the way that he brought life to his character and the way I was allowed to bring life to my character. You could see that we created a life for those characters. It was just easy, no rough patches, we just flowed with it.”
Tyler echoes what many of the cast members we’ve talked to have said, that filming scenes with James Jude Courtney as Michael Myers is legitimately terrifying to the point that there is little acting and very real fear captured on screen. She also recounted a hilarious story from the set of Halloween Kills while working with Courtney.
Diva tells us, “This is what I’m going to say about James Jude Courtney. I love working with him. He is a consummate professional. He’s got good energy, and he’s always his character. In between shoots, he’s in costume. And I’m just standing there watching the action going on, cameras resetting and refocusing. And he slowly starts to circle around me… and slowly comes to one side of my face and says, ‘I love you, Diva Tyler.’
“Then he slowly comes around the other side, and he says, ‘I’m going to kill your ass and you’re going to fucking love it.’ (laughing) He scared the hell out of me. It was such a drastic change. It was like he transformed into this fiend. I was like, ‘What the hell?'”Â
Later in our conversation, she gives us a tasty tease for the new movie, promising fans, “You guys, you ain’t seen nothing yet. This one here, it’s definitely the real deal.”
Tyler also reveals that the memorable moment in the 2018 film when her character notices Myers watching her and the podcast journalists at Judith Myers’ grave was actually her idea and was not originally scripted.
Of course we also discussed celebrating Halloween itself, favorite candy and costumes, and much more, including Diva’s Halloween Kills After Party in Atlanta this Friday night.
You can watch our full exclusive interview with Diva Tyler on playing Sondra in Halloween Kills below.
[Related: Watch our exclusive interview with Giselle Witt on playing Mindy in Halloween Kills here.]
See all of our Halloween Kills coverage here!
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