[Interview] Tyler Mane Talks Halloween, Michael Myers, and His New Graphic Novel

In the 2007 remake of Halloween, director Rob Zombie wrote his version of Michael Myers with one person in mind to play The Shape, and as the new man behind the iconic mask, Tyler Mane would redefine the character just as the part would change his life, and so, on the eve of the epic 45 Years of Terror franchise reunion event, we talked to Tyler about his time in Haddonfield, as well as his time in the professional wrestling ring, squaring off against Andre the Giant, his own memories of trick or treating, and his latest project, the upcoming graphic novel The Last Spartan: Red Tape.

After working with Zombie on The Devil’s Rejects, in which he appears briefly as Rufus Firefly, he got the call about taking on the role of Michael Myers in Halloween. Mane tells HDN, “A little while later, I get a phone call, and it’s Rob. He says, ‘Hey, I’m making this movie and I wrote it with you in mind, and if you don’t want to do it, I don’t want to do it.’ So I’m like, ‘Alright, cool. What is it?’

“Then he explained how he was going to tell the backstory and wanted make him more than just a one-dimensional character, which I think is really cool., because it shows his backstory of how he became a product of his environment.“

On his latest project, producing The Last Spartan: Red Tape graphic novel, Mane describes it as, “Think Sons of Anarchy meets True Detective with a human trafficking theme. Since we did our research for this graphic novel, I’ve decided that I have to do something to give back to the community and to people. I’m teaming with DeliverFund.org and TraffickingInAmericaTaskForce.org to help them raise awareness and get the message out (about human trafficking). We are doing a Kickstarter that goes live October 17th. It’s for this graphic novel. 

It is written by Christopher Priest, who wrote Black Panther, Punisher, Vampirella – he is the man. And then we’ve art by Will Conrad, Jimbo Salgado, Michael Muttienato  and then we have various different artists doing various covers, and they are retop tier artists. I am so excited, and I can’t wait to bring it all to you people.” 

Mane tells us that he has been doing in-costume photo ops this summer with the new Trick or Treat Studios Halloween 2007 masks, and then raffling the masks and cosplay coveralls he wears to one lucky fan who purchased the photo op, and was then automatically entered into the raffle. The final two opportunities to get an in-costume photo op with a portion of the proceeds going to the charity organizations listed above will be at the Halloween: 45 Years of Terror event Sept. 30-Oct. 1, and then at Spookala in Florida in October.

Tyler says, “That’s the last time I will be wearing these costumes for photo ops ever.”

The Kickstarter for The Last Spartan: Red Tape launches on October 17 here.

Of course we also discussed the Halloween holiday and learned about Tyler’s favorite Halloween candy and costume (Harry Potter! And we have photo!), as well as wrestling against the legendary Andre the Giant in one of his final matches, and more, including the upcoming 45 Years of Terror Halloween franchise reunion event.

You can watch our full exclusive video interview with Tyler Mane below.

[Watch our interview with Scout Taylor Compton on Halloween (2007) here.]

[Watch our interview with Daeg Faerch on Halloween (2007) here.]