October 30, 2024 • 25 mins
The legendary Nick Castle, the original Michael Myers, steps into the spotlight on this special Halloween-themed episode of Pop Culture Weekly. Join me, Kyle McMahon, as Nick opens up about his role as "The Shape" and the incredible journey of the Halloween franchise from an indie flick to a cultural touchstone. Hear firsthand about his cherished memories with producer and co-writer Deborah Hill, his work with John Carpenter, his experiences at horror conventions, and a tantalizing glimpse into the franchise's future. This conversation is a must-listen for fans of the horror genre and those curious about the legacy of Halloween, which continues to captivate audiences with its chilling allure.
Switching gears, I also have the pleasure of chatting with Daisy Ridley about her latest project, "Magpie," a gripping Hitchcockian thriller. Daisy shares how her journey in the film industry inspired this tale of isolation and family dynamics, with insights into the creative partnership with writer Tom and the film's talented crew. Discover how the noir ambiance of "Magpie" was brought to life through the collaborative efforts of director Sam Yates, director of photography Laura Bellingham, and production designer Amanda McCarthy. With nods to cinematic influences like Hitchcock and "Silence of the Lambs," this conversation sheds light on the intricacies behind crafting a compelling thriller. Tune in for an episode filled with engaging stories and exclusive insights from Nick Castle and Daisy Ridley.
Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming: https://www.deathandgrief.show/Chapter-One-The-Diagnosis-AKA-WTF/
---------------
Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at: https://podcast.popcultureweekly.com
Watch celebrity interviews at: https://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon/videos
or Kyle McMahon YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/officialkylemcmahon
Read the latest at http://www.PopCultureWeekly.com
Follow Kyle on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kmacmusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@popcultureweekly
Website: http://www.kylemcmahon.me
Switching gears, I also have the pleasure of chatting with Daisy Ridley about her latest project, "Magpie," a gripping Hitchcockian thriller. Daisy shares how her journey in the film industry inspired this tale of isolation and family dynamics, with insights into the creative partnership with writer Tom and the film's talented crew. Discover how the noir ambiance of "Magpie" was brought to life through the collaborative efforts of director Sam Yates, director of photography Laura Bellingham, and production designer Amanda McCarthy. With nods to cinematic influences like Hitchcock and "Silence of the Lambs," this conversation sheds light on the intricacies behind crafting a compelling thriller. Tune in for an episode filled with engaging stories and exclusive insights from Nick Castle and Daisy Ridley.
Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming: https://www.deathandgrief.show/Chapter-One-The-Diagnosis-AKA-WTF/
---------------
Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at: https://podcast.popcultureweekly.com
Watch celebrity interviews at: https://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon/videos
or Kyle McMahon YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/officialkylemcmahon
Read the latest at http://www.PopCultureWeekly.com
Follow Kyle on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kmacmusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@popcultureweekly
Website: http://www.kylemcmahon.me
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In this spooky episode of pop Culture Weekly, It's Halloween.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I talk with Michael Myers himself, Nick.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Castle, end Ray herself from the Galaxy Far Far Away,
Daisy Ridley.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from iHeartRadio
your pop culture news, views, reviews and celebrity interviews on
all the movies, TV, music and pop culture UKRABE Weekly.
Here's Kyle McMahon, Nan Nana no.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Hello, and welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon.
I of course am Kyle McMahon, and it is another
October episode that means Halloween.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
You know, that's my.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Favorite day of the year. It's my favorite time of
the year. I love horror, I love spooky season, and
this month I feel like we've been bringing all the
great you know, spooky people out, spooky content, horror movies, thrillers,
just you know, getting it all up. Last episode we
had Bruce Campbell, who's so amazing. We talked about Hysteria
(01:11):
and Teacut, which is this terrifying series on Peacock. It's
just been oh and Kado Lake, the m Night Shyamalan
produced film that I talk with Dylan O'Brien and Eliza
Scanley such just such great content, and this episode is
no different. I talk with the Shape himself, the original
(01:32):
OG Michael Myers. Yes, I talk with Nick Cassel all
about Halloween, which is out in theaters right now, with
a couple of the sequels as well. And then I
talk with Ray Daisy Ridley. Yes, Daisy Ridley, I talk
about her brand new film called Magpie, which is really
(01:57):
really really creepy and really really really good.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
You're gonna love it. But we'll talk about that in
a moment.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
First up, let's get right into my interview with the
one and only Nick Castle, who gives us a very
cool exclusive on the future of the Halloween franchise. Here
he is Nick Castle. So, is this like your busy
time of the year. I mean, obviously you're busy all year,
(02:26):
but is this like an insane time for you?
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Well, you know, I'm not busy all year. I'm a
retired motion picture director writer and having a wonderful time
in retirement. But nonetheless, what I do do is go
do a lot of horror conventions, fan conventions, and especially
this time of year is very popular. Over the last
eight weeks, I've gone to six different cities just to
(02:52):
talk to the fans, and they have a blast with
this character, signing autographs and masks and knives and all
times of stuff. So I have the pleasure and the
privilege of being an ambassador for John's movie and for
a lot of the other a lot of the other
(03:14):
films that have been spawned by this character.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, I mean, Halloween is such an iconic film, the franchise.
You know, I'm a huge horror fan. I'm a huge
Halloween fan. Halloween is my favorite. It's the og for me.
What is it like to be you know, I mean,
you are the shape Michael Myers. What is it like
to be that character in a film that has just
(03:40):
through decades endured.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Well, you know, it's pretty funny. Actually, I find it
ironic because you know, what I'll be remembered for is
this movie after having done a dozen movies or writing
of another three or four. But it's so much fun
because you get to meet the fans at these conventions,
(04:04):
and that's how I know how beloved in its own
strange way, this character is meeting people that actually are
affected by this that their first movie was Halloween, or
their first horror movie. They sat down with their parents
and watched it, and they remember it fondly for that,
(04:24):
so it's almost like a family affair. And of course
it happens every year. It was brilliantly, you know, titled Halloween.
So every year around this time, you're reminded not only
of the season, but of this little movie that was
done so well that you don't mind going back to
it over and over again.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, and for you, you know, over these decades, when
you look back nineteen seventy seven, nineteen seventy eight, did
you ever think that this was going to you know,
that you'd be talking about at forty some years later.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Absolutely not. You know, at the time, this was a
little film that you hoped would get you know, decent
distribution and that you hope John would get another job.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
From right.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
And within the year it was the largest grossing independent
film of all time, and especially for the budget was
was was a crazy reality. And so h no no idea.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
And you've talked about you know, you've talked about the
film so much. Uh, is there anything that you know
is little known about you know, a little known fact
about the film that you haven't maybe been asked about
or haven't discussed.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Oh dear, you know, yes, I've Folks like you have
mined pretty much everything out of this brain. The one
thing I like to remind people of is the UH
as a partnership that John had with Deborah Hill, the
producer and writer of the picture, was no small part
in making this thing a reality and making it so good.
(06:08):
She she helped work with the young actresses on the
set UH and like I said, co wrote it with
him and was a tremendous talent. Died too young and
didn't get to have as much as the fun of
these last decades of how how the movie has grown
(06:29):
in in fan base exponentially, it seems almost year after year.
So I tribute just a reminder to folks that there
was a woman involved with this this show, that that
had a lot to do with its success.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I love that so much.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And you know, Halloween is playing right now and what
nearly eight hundred theaters across the country. It's not every
movie that gets that gets a re release, you know,
like that, especially decades later, is you know for you
you also did the thing that I love about, you know,
(07:08):
a franchise like Halloween. Is that then you have different
takes on it. You know, Rob Zombie did a take
on it, and and then the recent trilogy from from
David Gordon Green, which which you were in. Do you
enjoy seeing the different you know? And then there's there's
books and games and comic books and all that. Do
(07:30):
you enjoy seeing the different kind of you know, creative
takes on the franchise?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Oh? Yes, I mean, in fact, I wouldn't mind seeing
more of them. I'd love to see a film do
an episode each from a great filmmaker to do their
own Michael Myers like Rob just did, and David Gordon Green,
you know, he came up with the concepts of doing
a forty years later one and how they approach it.
(08:00):
I thought that was magnificently done. And then talking about
artistic endeavors, there are even books now of people that
have done artwork that include the movie or the character
that are just spectaculars that are beautifully done. So the
movie has inspired a lot of artists and you can
(08:22):
see it in and when I go, especially when I
go to these conventions where people will bring posters of
things that people have made out of, you know, from
their homes. You know, there's just spectacular work and it's
it's it's it's really quite remarkable.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And do you happen to have any any idea where
you know, is there talk of.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Bringing another film out?
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Oh? Yeah, I spoke to Malika cod who is the uh,
the owner of the franchise. Oh. They're busy trying to
figure out the next next, the next iteration. And of
course I think he's talked about having a relationship with
Mery Max and they're thinking maybe TV might be the
(09:11):
next step. I don't know what that means exactly, but
that might be the next time you see the Halloween
world pop out.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I love that. And originally wasn't.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
John's original idea was to do like each year would
be It wouldn't be necessarily Michael Myers, but it would
be a different story taking place on Halloween.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Is that true?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
That was true? You know. In fact, the third iteration
of Halloween that John did with Halloween three Season of
the Witch, which didn't have Michael Myers, had a great story.
At the time, it didn't work for the audience because
the promotion of it didn't really explain that this wasn't
Michael Myers, so everyone was disappointed when they went to
(09:58):
see it, or many people were, and now years and
years and years later, having you know that behind him,
that movie directed by Tommy Lee Wallace is a big
fan favorite. So yeah, I think if you promoted it right,
an anthology series about using John as the mastermind of
(10:19):
the series and promoting it and shaping it would be
a great way of telling the stories.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Again, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Maybe that ties in with, you know, a television type
thing and then you have Michael Myers whatever each season
finale or something.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Hey, there you go. We may steal that idea from it.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
It's yours.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
I just want more Halloween content, Nick, You you know
you've done so much work. August Rush is a personal favorite.
I love that film. It's such a meditation for me.
I believe in music and film and familial familial familial ties.
Do you find you know you've done such varied work.
(11:02):
Do you find that as an artist that's kind of
you know, what kept you going for so long that
you were able to do a Halloween and then an
August Rush and a Mister Wrong and that sort of thing.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Well, sometimes you make your career and sometimes your career
makes you for John, for instance, he was very clear
about producing a John Carpenter movie for me, it was like,
you know, it wasn't as easy as not that it
was easy, but it didn't fall that way. It was
like who had the best script, what studio wanted to
(11:36):
hire me, things of that nature, so that you know,
you you get this kind of eclectic you know, career
that that I've had a ball. So it's it's not
formed into, you know that the kind of world that
John was able to create, but it's a world that
I've enjoyed every minute of and and had some great
(12:00):
luck with doing films that I generated from my own
little brain to motion pictures that were handed to me
that I just love the idea. So I've been lucky,
and now in retirement I can look back and just
promote my friends' movies like this.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I love that so much. Nick, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
People can go to Halloweenportal dot com and get all
of the information and they can go like me and
go see Halloween and a few of the sequels as
well in theaters on the big screen. Thank you so much, Nick,
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Thank you. Unhappy Halloween. See the folks there.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Sarah you as well. Nick Castle. I can't believe I
talked to Michael Myers. This has been like a dream
this month. Bruce Campbell, last episode, Michael Myers. You know,
Nick Castle, this episode just so awesome. I'm like living
(12:58):
my dream and you guys make it happy and I
appreciate that and love that from you and for you
and for me.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
It's awesome because he directed also like The Last Starfighter,
which is such a great movie, and Dennis the Menace,
which was hilarious that came out in What ninety three
and it had Walter Mathow and Christopher Lloyd in it.
Like what a cast, Natasha Leone, Lea Thompson. So anyway,
(13:27):
all right, we're gonna take a super short break, so
hang out here. So hang out here with me and
support our sponsors who make this show happen.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I will see you in sixty all right.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Thank you for hanging out with me and supporting our
sponsors who make this show happen every single week and
bring you amazing interviews like Nick Castle, Michael Freakin Myers
and this next interview, who I am so excited about
my next guest has captivated audiences around the globe with
(14:07):
her incredible talent and charisma. She has empowered people, especially
women and girls, around the galaxy with her breakout role
as Ray in the blockbuster Star Wars sequel trilogy, and
she's proven herself to be a force to be reckoned
with in Hollywood and beyond. And her new film, Magpie
(14:30):
is an incredible twisty, turny, hitchcocky and thriller that she
conceived of herself and now stars in. Let's talk with
Daisy Ridley. So, first of all, Daisy, thank you so
much for speaking with me. I really appreciate it. Magpie
(14:50):
is so good. I love it.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Thank you, of course.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
So tell me about you. Know, from my understanding, this
film came from you. The idea for it came while
you were filming something else, which I think is so meta,
especially with the film itself.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
How did that come about for you?
Speaker 5 (15:13):
So the actual original idea was a little different to
where Tom ended up taking it. The original idea was
if an actress is away from home and destabilized by
something and does not have the solidity of sort of
the bedrock of something keeping her feeling calm, I mean
being away filming anyway, even with all of those things,
and the stability can be very strange and very isolating
(15:36):
and offering you're away from home. So the original concept
was what would an actress do if she became so
in love with the child that was playing her child
she tried to infiltrate that family. So that was the
original idea, And when Tom started working on it, he
just said he felt really more drawn to the woman
at home, who is the person who isn't able to
(16:02):
go and have this amazing experience on set where these
intimate bonds are formed incredibly quickly and everything feels exciting
and fresh, and who is she and how is she
coping with the feeling of being the other woman in
terms of her child And then of course, coupled with that,
her husband has a wondering eye.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, and so you know, this kind of incubates with
you and you decide, you know, there's something here that
I want to do with it. So you took it
to a producer friend of yours and it kind of
blossomed from there, right.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
Yeah, So me and Tom had already started spitballing and
he had actually written, I mean he wrote incredibly quickly
because we were so excited about the idea, and particularly
when he started working on it, and I knew his
writing anyway, I've read a lot of his other scripts
which were beautiful. So we pitched it to Kate, who
I produced the movie with, and she was very interested.
(16:59):
And then in a way we went, so things you know,
shifted as we went, but certainly the idea was there,
and then we knew we wanted a killer ending, and
then Tom really sculpted that because we had there had
to be enough layers between everyone, and you had to
believe those relationships and you had to care about these
(17:21):
people and what happened in order for us to pull
that off.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
So all of that was built by him.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I love that And part of what I love is
it so in its own way hitchcocky and almost And
I'm a huge Hitchcock fan.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Are you? Are you a Hitchcock fan?
Speaker 1 (17:42):
And does that kind of play into when you're doing,
you know, different projects, especially when you're producing and you're
you're so involved in the development of is that something
like you know conscious for you, like, you know, I
want to kind of do something in this vein or
that vein.
Speaker 6 (18:01):
Well, we had inspirations from the beginning.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
One was Tully. This amazing film was Charlie's. Then we
had seen Homecoming, the show with Julia Roberts with that
very claustrophobic zoom, so there had been references anyway, and
we really, me and Tom really wanted to make the
sort of film and we all love all sorts of films,
but something that we would really want to see. So
the genre feeling and that noir feeling was something we
(18:29):
always wanted. But we were also incredibly lucky to have
Sam Yer to come on board as director and Laura
Bellingham come on as dop and we had talked about Hitchcock,
and Sam's big inspiration was John Demi and a big
reference with Silus of the Lambs, And so when you
have amazing people who you trust and there are productions
(18:50):
outre Amanda mccarth's just phenomenal. So because we had this
amazing crew, I was able to sit back and then
be blown away by the work that they were doing.
And of course we were all involved in those conversations,
but the minute they started spitballing their ideas together and
they did the shot list and how they were going
to capture it, it was just brilliant and even on
(19:12):
set watching scenes come together before they're edited, before anything.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
The way Laura was capturing everything was so.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Gorgeous and gives that feeling of what is going on.
We're seeing things that we shouldn't be seeing, and we're
not seeing things that we should be seeing. Where's that
line and where's the line between what's real and what's not?
Speaker 6 (19:32):
But really, yeah, so much of that is down to Laura.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
And for you, you know, I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
You know, often for those watching or listening, films and
projects are filmed out of order, and I'm trying to
be as.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Spoiler free as possible. Is it hard for you?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
And I would assume that's a little bit easier for
you since you were involved since the beginning, But is
it hard for you as you're filming, when you're doing
sequences out of order to kind of be like, Okay
is in this space for this scene, and then she's
in that space for that scene.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Yes, certainly we did.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
The first chunk of the shoot was all in the house,
but we did it as chronologically as possible, so even
within the hatch, she has an emotional journey of that
real claustrophobic feeling feeling at the beginning and then the
end of the movie where she's a lot more calm
and she is holding the cards at that point. So
there were moments where I can't remember what scene we did.
(20:33):
A big leap we did. We went from seeing them
I've seen fifty to scene ninety. But also again to
Sam's credit, I mean we talked before every scene about
where Anette was. And having a director you really trust
is fantastic because I also wasn't watching the dailies of myself.
(20:53):
I was only watching the other people do scenes because
that was something I felt would be too difficult.
Speaker 6 (20:57):
So when you trust, people are like, is this coming cross?
Is this the right thing?
Speaker 5 (21:04):
Yeah, so there was one time where it was a
bit of a leief and I thought, oh, okay, and
that it is slightly different here.
Speaker 6 (21:11):
But the amazing thing is too she is never broken.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
She's really beaten and really bruised emotionally, but she's never
broken and the strength and we meet her and Ben
in a difficult time. We never see them as they were.
We come into their relationship mid difficulty, so we had
already established that and from there, I mean, things get
worse for a net before they get better. But she
(21:35):
always maintains that she has her kids to think about
and they're really the motivation for her drive. And because
as well they have these beautiful kids to film with.
The hip particular who plays Matilda, she her little face
was such a drive for me too that that kept
me centered in it all as well.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And finally, you know, and I've asked Robert Pattinson this,
and I've asked Daniel Radcliffe this, When you do you know,
when you do such an icon of character and a
giant franchise like Ray, and then you go and do
these projects that are on the opposite kind of scale, is.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
That super fulfilled? Like, like, I feel like as.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
A creator, you know, obviously I'm not an actor, but
I feel like as a creator, it kind of like
checks all these marks and the fact that like I
can go and do this giant project and then that
affords me to go and do kind of anything I want.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Do you find that true.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
For you in terms of being afforded the privilege?
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Absolutely, because I also know without the bigger films, it
would be more difficult to make the smaller films, which
is just the truth of it. But It's interesting in
terms of approach, I feel the same in approaching every role,
and it's certainly different going from shooting one hundred and
(22:53):
forty days to shooting for twenty three days. But I
feel really genuinely blessed with the people that I've got
to work with. And ultimately, art is art, whether it's
your big movie that's going to be seen on an
Imax or a smaller movie that you hope will connect
with people. Either way, you know, you hope that the
(23:16):
emotional story will connect. Either way, you hope that the
vista of it all will connect, so that in terms
of approach it doesn't change. But my hope always is
I mean that I've become a better actor each time,
to be honest, but also that each film, even if
it means something to one person, whether it means something
(23:37):
to one hundred people or one person, that one person
is as important. So the hope would always be that
whatever it is I'm making connects in some way.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I love that so much, Daisy, it connected with me.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
I can't wait till it comes out so I can
talk about it with people. Magpie exclusively coming out in theaters.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I can't wait for everybody to see it. Thank you, Daisy,
Thank you so much. Have a great.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Thanks, Daisy Ridley. I cannot believe that I talked with Ray,
Daisy Ridley, Ray, Star Wars, The Force Awakens, Star Wars,
The Last Jedi, Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker. I mean,
(24:23):
I Daisy Ridley, people, Daisy freaking Ridley. I'm like pinching
myself and this episode. I also talked with Nick Castle,
Michael Myers himself, like what is going on in my life?
I love you guys for being with me and supporting me.
You know, watch the videos if you want. The video
(24:44):
version of the interviews are up on the website and
Facebook and all that good stuff. Keep tuned in with
the podcast. Obviously, we're gonna be doing some cool giveaways
coming up soon, just in time for the holidays, and
so much more coming to you all because of you,
and I love you for that, all right, I will
(25:06):
see you next week.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I love you.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
We are Thank you for listening to pop Culture Weekly.
Here all the latest at pop cultureweekly dot com.
In this spooky episode of pop Culture Weekly, It's Halloween.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I talk with Michael Myers himself, Nick.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Castle, end Ray herself from the Galaxy Far Far Away,
Daisy Ridley.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from iHeartRadio
your pop culture news, views, reviews and celebrity interviews on
all the movies, TV, music and pop culture UKRABE Weekly.
Here's Kyle McMahon, Nan Nana no.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Hello, and welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon.
I of course am Kyle McMahon, and it is another
October episode that means Halloween.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
You know, that's my.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Favorite day of the year. It's my favorite time of
the year. I love horror, I love spooky season, and
this month I feel like we've been bringing all the
great you know, spooky people out, spooky content, horror movies, thrillers,
just you know, getting it all up. Last episode we
had Bruce Campbell, who's so amazing. We talked about Hysteria
(01:11):
and Teacut, which is this terrifying series on Peacock. It's
just been oh and Kado Lake, the m Night Shyamalan
produced film that I talk with Dylan O'Brien and Eliza
Scanley such just such great content, and this episode is
no different. I talk with the Shape himself, the original
(01:32):
OG Michael Myers. Yes, I talk with Nick Cassel all
about Halloween, which is out in theaters right now, with
a couple of the sequels as well. And then I
talk with Ray Daisy Ridley. Yes, Daisy Ridley, I talk
about her brand new film called Magpie, which is really
(01:57):
really really creepy and really really really good.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
You're gonna love it. But we'll talk about that in
a moment.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
First up, let's get right into my interview with the
one and only Nick Castle, who gives us a very
cool exclusive on the future of the Halloween franchise. Here
he is Nick Castle. So, is this like your busy
time of the year. I mean, obviously you're busy all year,
(02:26):
but is this like an insane time for you?
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Well, you know, I'm not busy all year. I'm a
retired motion picture director writer and having a wonderful time
in retirement. But nonetheless, what I do do is go
do a lot of horror conventions, fan conventions, and especially
this time of year is very popular. Over the last
eight weeks, I've gone to six different cities just to
(02:52):
talk to the fans, and they have a blast with
this character, signing autographs and masks and knives and all
times of stuff. So I have the pleasure and the
privilege of being an ambassador for John's movie and for
a lot of the other a lot of the other
(03:14):
films that have been spawned by this character.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, I mean, Halloween is such an iconic film, the franchise.
You know, I'm a huge horror fan. I'm a huge
Halloween fan. Halloween is my favorite. It's the og for me.
What is it like to be you know, I mean,
you are the shape Michael Myers. What is it like
to be that character in a film that has just
(03:40):
through decades endured.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Well, you know, it's pretty funny. Actually, I find it
ironic because you know, what I'll be remembered for is
this movie after having done a dozen movies or writing
of another three or four. But it's so much fun
because you get to meet the fans at these conventions,
(04:04):
and that's how I know how beloved in its own
strange way, this character is meeting people that actually are
affected by this that their first movie was Halloween, or
their first horror movie. They sat down with their parents
and watched it, and they remember it fondly for that,
(04:24):
so it's almost like a family affair. And of course
it happens every year. It was brilliantly, you know, titled Halloween.
So every year around this time, you're reminded not only
of the season, but of this little movie that was
done so well that you don't mind going back to
it over and over again.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Yeah, and for you, you know, over these decades, when
you look back nineteen seventy seven, nineteen seventy eight, did
you ever think that this was going to you know,
that you'd be talking about at forty some years later.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Absolutely not. You know, at the time, this was a
little film that you hoped would get you know, decent
distribution and that you hope John would get another job.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
From right.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
And within the year it was the largest grossing independent
film of all time, and especially for the budget was
was was a crazy reality. And so h no no idea.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
And you've talked about you know, you've talked about the
film so much. Uh, is there anything that you know
is little known about you know, a little known fact
about the film that you haven't maybe been asked about
or haven't discussed.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
Oh dear, you know, yes, I've Folks like you have
mined pretty much everything out of this brain. The one
thing I like to remind people of is the UH
as a partnership that John had with Deborah Hill, the
producer and writer of the picture, was no small part
in making this thing a reality and making it so good.
(06:08):
She she helped work with the young actresses on the
set UH and like I said, co wrote it with
him and was a tremendous talent. Died too young and
didn't get to have as much as the fun of
these last decades of how how the movie has grown
(06:29):
in in fan base exponentially, it seems almost year after year.
So I tribute just a reminder to folks that there
was a woman involved with this this show, that that
had a lot to do with its success.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I love that so much.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And you know, Halloween is playing right now and what
nearly eight hundred theaters across the country. It's not every
movie that gets that gets a re release, you know,
like that, especially decades later, is you know for you
you also did the thing that I love about, you know,
(07:08):
a franchise like Halloween. Is that then you have different
takes on it. You know, Rob Zombie did a take
on it, and and then the recent trilogy from from
David Gordon Green, which which you were in. Do you
enjoy seeing the different you know? And then there's there's
books and games and comic books and all that. Do
(07:30):
you enjoy seeing the different kind of you know, creative
takes on the franchise?
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Oh? Yes, I mean, in fact, I wouldn't mind seeing
more of them. I'd love to see a film do
an episode each from a great filmmaker to do their
own Michael Myers like Rob just did, and David Gordon Green,
you know, he came up with the concepts of doing
a forty years later one and how they approach it.
(08:00):
I thought that was magnificently done. And then talking about
artistic endeavors, there are even books now of people that
have done artwork that include the movie or the character
that are just spectaculars that are beautifully done. So the
movie has inspired a lot of artists and you can
(08:22):
see it in and when I go, especially when I
go to these conventions where people will bring posters of
things that people have made out of, you know, from
their homes. You know, there's just spectacular work and it's
it's it's it's really quite remarkable.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And do you happen to have any any idea where
you know, is there talk of.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Bringing another film out?
Speaker 4 (08:48):
Oh? Yeah, I spoke to Malika cod who is the uh,
the owner of the franchise. Oh. They're busy trying to
figure out the next next, the next iteration. And of
course I think he's talked about having a relationship with
Mery Max and they're thinking maybe TV might be the
(09:11):
next step. I don't know what that means exactly, but
that might be the next time you see the Halloween
world pop out.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
I love that. And originally wasn't.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
John's original idea was to do like each year would
be It wouldn't be necessarily Michael Myers, but it would
be a different story taking place on Halloween.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Is that true?
Speaker 4 (09:36):
That was true? You know. In fact, the third iteration
of Halloween that John did with Halloween three Season of
the Witch, which didn't have Michael Myers, had a great story.
At the time, it didn't work for the audience because
the promotion of it didn't really explain that this wasn't
Michael Myers, so everyone was disappointed when they went to
(09:58):
see it, or many people were, and now years and
years and years later, having you know that behind him,
that movie directed by Tommy Lee Wallace is a big
fan favorite. So yeah, I think if you promoted it right,
an anthology series about using John as the mastermind of
(10:19):
the series and promoting it and shaping it would be
a great way of telling the stories.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Again, Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Maybe that ties in with, you know, a television type
thing and then you have Michael Myers whatever each season
finale or something.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Hey, there you go. We may steal that idea from it.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
It's yours.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
I just want more Halloween content, Nick, You you know
you've done so much work. August Rush is a personal favorite.
I love that film. It's such a meditation for me.
I believe in music and film and familial familial familial ties.
Do you find you know you've done such varied work.
(11:02):
Do you find that as an artist that's kind of
you know, what kept you going for so long that
you were able to do a Halloween and then an
August Rush and a Mister Wrong and that sort of thing.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Well, sometimes you make your career and sometimes your career
makes you for John, for instance, he was very clear
about producing a John Carpenter movie for me, it was like,
you know, it wasn't as easy as not that it
was easy, but it didn't fall that way. It was
like who had the best script, what studio wanted to
(11:36):
hire me, things of that nature, so that you know,
you you get this kind of eclectic you know, career
that that I've had a ball. So it's it's not
formed into, you know that the kind of world that
John was able to create, but it's a world that
I've enjoyed every minute of and and had some great
(12:00):
luck with doing films that I generated from my own
little brain to motion pictures that were handed to me
that I just love the idea. So I've been lucky,
and now in retirement I can look back and just
promote my friends' movies like this.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I love that so much. Nick, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
People can go to Halloweenportal dot com and get all
of the information and they can go like me and
go see Halloween and a few of the sequels as
well in theaters on the big screen. Thank you so much, Nick,
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Thank you. Unhappy Halloween. See the folks there.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Sarah you as well. Nick Castle. I can't believe I
talked to Michael Myers. This has been like a dream
this month. Bruce Campbell, last episode, Michael Myers. You know,
Nick Castle, this episode just so awesome. I'm like living
(12:58):
my dream and you guys make it happy and I
appreciate that and love that from you and for you
and for me.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
It's awesome because he directed also like The Last Starfighter,
which is such a great movie, and Dennis the Menace,
which was hilarious that came out in What ninety three
and it had Walter Mathow and Christopher Lloyd in it.
Like what a cast, Natasha Leone, Lea Thompson. So anyway,
(13:27):
all right, we're gonna take a super short break, so
hang out here. So hang out here with me and
support our sponsors who make this show happen.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
I will see you in sixty all right.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Thank you for hanging out with me and supporting our
sponsors who make this show happen every single week and
bring you amazing interviews like Nick Castle, Michael Freakin Myers
and this next interview, who I am so excited about
my next guest has captivated audiences around the globe with
(14:07):
her incredible talent and charisma. She has empowered people, especially
women and girls, around the galaxy with her breakout role
as Ray in the blockbuster Star Wars sequel trilogy, and
she's proven herself to be a force to be reckoned
with in Hollywood and beyond. And her new film, Magpie
(14:30):
is an incredible twisty, turny, hitchcocky and thriller that she
conceived of herself and now stars in. Let's talk with
Daisy Ridley. So, first of all, Daisy, thank you so
much for speaking with me. I really appreciate it. Magpie
(14:50):
is so good. I love it.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Thank you, of course.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
So tell me about you. Know, from my understanding, this
film came from you. The idea for it came while
you were filming something else, which I think is so meta,
especially with the film itself.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
How did that come about for you?
Speaker 5 (15:13):
So the actual original idea was a little different to
where Tom ended up taking it. The original idea was
if an actress is away from home and destabilized by
something and does not have the solidity of sort of
the bedrock of something keeping her feeling calm, I mean
being away filming anyway, even with all of those things,
and the stability can be very strange and very isolating
(15:36):
and offering you're away from home. So the original concept
was what would an actress do if she became so
in love with the child that was playing her child
she tried to infiltrate that family. So that was the
original idea, And when Tom started working on it, he
just said he felt really more drawn to the woman
at home, who is the person who isn't able to
(16:02):
go and have this amazing experience on set where these
intimate bonds are formed incredibly quickly and everything feels exciting
and fresh, and who is she and how is she
coping with the feeling of being the other woman in
terms of her child And then of course, coupled with that,
her husband has a wondering eye.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Yeah, and so you know, this kind of incubates with
you and you decide, you know, there's something here that
I want to do with it. So you took it
to a producer friend of yours and it kind of
blossomed from there, right.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
Yeah, So me and Tom had already started spitballing and
he had actually written, I mean he wrote incredibly quickly
because we were so excited about the idea, and particularly
when he started working on it, and I knew his
writing anyway, I've read a lot of his other scripts
which were beautiful. So we pitched it to Kate, who
I produced the movie with, and she was very interested.
(16:59):
And then in a way we went, so things you know,
shifted as we went, but certainly the idea was there,
and then we knew we wanted a killer ending, and
then Tom really sculpted that because we had there had
to be enough layers between everyone, and you had to
believe those relationships and you had to care about these
(17:21):
people and what happened in order for us to pull
that off.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
So all of that was built by him.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I love that And part of what I love is
it so in its own way hitchcocky and almost And
I'm a huge Hitchcock fan.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
Are you? Are you a Hitchcock fan?
Speaker 1 (17:42):
And does that kind of play into when you're doing,
you know, different projects, especially when you're producing and you're
you're so involved in the development of is that something
like you know conscious for you, like, you know, I
want to kind of do something in this vein or
that vein.
Speaker 6 (18:01):
Well, we had inspirations from the beginning.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
One was Tully. This amazing film was Charlie's. Then we
had seen Homecoming, the show with Julia Roberts with that
very claustrophobic zoom, so there had been references anyway, and
we really, me and Tom really wanted to make the
sort of film and we all love all sorts of films,
but something that we would really want to see. So
the genre feeling and that noir feeling was something we
(18:29):
always wanted. But we were also incredibly lucky to have
Sam Yer to come on board as director and Laura
Bellingham come on as dop and we had talked about Hitchcock,
and Sam's big inspiration was John Demi and a big
reference with Silus of the Lambs, And so when you
have amazing people who you trust and there are productions
(18:50):
outre Amanda mccarth's just phenomenal. So because we had this
amazing crew, I was able to sit back and then
be blown away by the work that they were doing.
And of course we were all involved in those conversations,
but the minute they started spitballing their ideas together and
they did the shot list and how they were going
to capture it, it was just brilliant and even on
(19:12):
set watching scenes come together before they're edited, before anything.
Speaker 6 (19:16):
The way Laura was capturing everything was so.
Speaker 5 (19:20):
Gorgeous and gives that feeling of what is going on.
We're seeing things that we shouldn't be seeing, and we're
not seeing things that we should be seeing. Where's that
line and where's the line between what's real and what's not?
Speaker 6 (19:32):
But really, yeah, so much of that is down to Laura.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
And for you, you know, I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
You know, often for those watching or listening, films and
projects are filmed out of order, and I'm trying to
be as.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Spoiler free as possible. Is it hard for you?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
And I would assume that's a little bit easier for
you since you were involved since the beginning, But is
it hard for you as you're filming, when you're doing
sequences out of order to kind of be like, Okay
is in this space for this scene, and then she's
in that space for that scene.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Yes, certainly we did.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
The first chunk of the shoot was all in the house,
but we did it as chronologically as possible, so even
within the hatch, she has an emotional journey of that
real claustrophobic feeling feeling at the beginning and then the
end of the movie where she's a lot more calm
and she is holding the cards at that point. So
there were moments where I can't remember what scene we did.
(20:33):
A big leap we did. We went from seeing them
I've seen fifty to scene ninety. But also again to
Sam's credit, I mean we talked before every scene about
where Anette was. And having a director you really trust
is fantastic because I also wasn't watching the dailies of myself.
(20:53):
I was only watching the other people do scenes because
that was something I felt would be too difficult.
Speaker 6 (20:57):
So when you trust, people are like, is this coming cross?
Is this the right thing?
Speaker 5 (21:04):
Yeah, so there was one time where it was a
bit of a leief and I thought, oh, okay, and
that it is slightly different here.
Speaker 6 (21:11):
But the amazing thing is too she is never broken.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
She's really beaten and really bruised emotionally, but she's never
broken and the strength and we meet her and Ben
in a difficult time. We never see them as they were.
We come into their relationship mid difficulty, so we had
already established that and from there, I mean, things get
worse for a net before they get better. But she
(21:35):
always maintains that she has her kids to think about
and they're really the motivation for her drive. And because
as well they have these beautiful kids to film with.
The hip particular who plays Matilda, she her little face
was such a drive for me too that that kept
me centered in it all as well.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And finally, you know, and I've asked Robert Pattinson this,
and I've asked Daniel Radcliffe this, When you do you know,
when you do such an icon of character and a
giant franchise like Ray, and then you go and do
these projects that are on the opposite kind of scale, is.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
That super fulfilled? Like, like, I feel like as.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
A creator, you know, obviously I'm not an actor, but
I feel like as a creator, it kind of like
checks all these marks and the fact that like I
can go and do this giant project and then that
affords me to go and do kind of anything I want.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Do you find that true.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
For you in terms of being afforded the privilege?
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Absolutely, because I also know without the bigger films, it
would be more difficult to make the smaller films, which
is just the truth of it. But It's interesting in
terms of approach, I feel the same in approaching every role,
and it's certainly different going from shooting one hundred and
(22:53):
forty days to shooting for twenty three days. But I
feel really genuinely blessed with the people that I've got
to work with. And ultimately, art is art, whether it's
your big movie that's going to be seen on an
Imax or a smaller movie that you hope will connect
with people. Either way, you know, you hope that the
(23:16):
emotional story will connect. Either way, you hope that the
vista of it all will connect, so that in terms
of approach it doesn't change. But my hope always is
I mean that I've become a better actor each time,
to be honest, but also that each film, even if
it means something to one person, whether it means something
(23:37):
to one hundred people or one person, that one person
is as important. So the hope would always be that
whatever it is I'm making connects in some way.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I love that so much, Daisy, it connected with me.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
I can't wait till it comes out so I can
talk about it with people. Magpie exclusively coming out in theaters.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I can't wait for everybody to see it. Thank you, Daisy,
Thank you so much. Have a great.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Thanks, Daisy Ridley. I cannot believe that I talked with Ray,
Daisy Ridley, Ray, Star Wars, The Force Awakens, Star Wars,
The Last Jedi, Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker. I mean,
(24:23):
I Daisy Ridley, people, Daisy freaking Ridley. I'm like pinching
myself and this episode. I also talked with Nick Castle,
Michael Myers himself, like what is going on in my life?
I love you guys for being with me and supporting me.
You know, watch the videos if you want. The video
(24:44):
version of the interviews are up on the website and
Facebook and all that good stuff. Keep tuned in with
the podcast. Obviously, we're gonna be doing some cool giveaways
coming up soon, just in time for the holidays, and
so much more coming to you all because of you,
and I love you for that, all right, I will
(25:06):
see you next week.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I love you.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
We are Thank you for listening to pop Culture Weekly.
Here all the latest at pop cultureweekly dot com.
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