[Interview] Daeg Faerch Talks Playing Michael Myers in ‘Halloween’, His Music, and More

In the 2007 remake of Halloween, directed by Rob Zombie, an 11-year-old Daeg Faerch landed the pivotal role of Michael Myers at age 10, and his casting in the project came at a point in his life when he almost walked away from Hollywood, a chance trip to Haddonfield that would place him among an elite group of the few men who have played the iconic character on screen, and so we were excited to talk to Daeg recently about his memories from that time, his own personal journey from church plays to the set of Euphoria, his music, and more.

Speaking to us via Zoom earlier this month, Daeg also confirmed his appearance at the upcoming 45 Years of Terror Halloween franchise reunion event during our candid and wide-ranging conversation.

On the surprising place where he first caught the acting bug, Daeg tells HDN, “Before my mom had me, she was a world renowned burlesque dancer. Traveled around the world doing that stuff. But then when she had me, bless her soul, she really invested her time and energy and everything into making a good kid. So she took me to church as a child. I seen church plays, so once I could start talking, I was like, ‘I kind of want to do that’. I think I was one of the three wisemen for a church play. And then that started growing into like bigger plays and stuff. I was part of a local theater group. We did a lot of Shakespeare and stuff. I played son of Hamlet in one and some other stuff. 

“Then that started to transition into film through student films. I personally like film acting more than theater acting. They’re both cool for their own reasons, but I’m more of a film guy myself. So I started doing lots and lots and lots of student films. 

“My mom’s family is from Canada, and we’re down here in San Diego, just her and I. And we were starting to think like, ‘Maybe we should just go to Canada, there’s family there, whatever. Then I got this audition, and we didn’t even realize, because the audition was for ‘Rob Zombie’s Untitled Halloween Project’. 

“I didn’t listen to much metal that time, so we thought it was going to be like a zombie type of project, and we actually turned down the audition a couple times. So eventually we ended up lining it up, and from that one audition, I got it.” 

Interestingly, he adds that the scenes he auditioned with were not ultimately filmed. “I vaguely remember doing the audition,” he said. “I don’t even think those scenes were used in the actual movie, because we were talking about going through the woods and hiding a dead cat or something for the audition.

“We saw the Hollywood sign for the first time during one of the fittings. Even though I had been to L.A. plenty of times, it was kind of like magical in a way. My mom and I were walking and then we turned around, and there was the Hollywood sign. You’ve been to L.A. a hundred and some of times, you’ve never seen it, and now you do. That was pretty cool.” 

Daeg tells us that his favorite scene to shoot was Michael’s first murder, because the victim was a bully played by Daryl Sabara, who previously starred in the Spy Kids movies, which Faerch was much more familiar with at the time than he was with the Halloween franchise.

“I remember killing Daryl Sabara with a stick because that was just so fun, and I knew who he was too,” he said. “I’ve not ever been the biggest horror fan, but I mean he’s a Spy Kid. So I’m like, ‘Man, I’m killing a Spy Kid.’

“And I’m a nice guy too, I’m not violent by any means. So even though I have a styrofoam stick that I’m hitting him with, Rob keeps telling me, ‘Go harder, go harder, get him,’ I’m like, ‘Are you good, dude?’ and he says, ‘Yeah, I’m good. Go harder.’ Then finally we’re on the last prop stick, and Rob’s like, ‘Okay, you can chill out now,’ because they’re styrofoam sticks. They break.”

On recreating the iconic Judith Myers kill scene, Daeg tells us that despite it being one of the bloodiest sequences in the film, it was all smiles on set in reality. “That scene was pretty funny,” he said, “because both Hanna (Hall) and I were like – you ever just get the giggledick and everything is funny? Both of us were getting the giggledick, for lack of a better word. I remember Rob being like, ‘Can y’all stop laughing? Let’s do this.'”  

He also reveals that his most difficult moment on set was a quick shot of young Michael looking out the window of the Myers house, because he recalls being all alone in the dark house with everyone else on the crew outside during filming, and he was legitimately afraid. “I’ve always been a bit afraid of the dark,” he said, “and there’s that one scene right before I kill the stepdad, and I look outside the window, and the cameras are outside. I was the only person in that house at that point, and I was scared. But other than that, it was all just fun.”

Of course we also discussed the Halloween holiday, as well as Faerch’s music career as Great Daeg, his collaboration with Myers mega-fan Tech N9ne, working on American Horror Story and with Zendaya on Euphoria, where The Weeknd recognized him, and more, including the upcoming 45 Years of Terror Halloween franchise reunion event.

You can watch our full exclusive video interview with Daeg Faerch below, premiering at 10:31 a.m. EST on Wednesday, March 29.

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