Interview: Judy Greer Talks Halloween Kills, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the Uncle Frank Connection

Judy Greer is an exceptional talent. From the very beginning of her career, the actress has proven to be shockingly versatile. And even more impressive, the actress is a part of several impressive cinematic worlds. Ms. Greer has been involved in the Marvel Universe as Maggie Lang in Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp. She starred in the fantastic Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Hell, she even appeared in Jurassic World. That’s not even counting her incredible work in comedy, drama, and indie flicks like Jeff Who Lives at Home and The Descendants. And with David Gordon Green, she’s become an integral part of the Halloween mythology.

Speaking to Judy is always a wonderful experience. She’s just an incredibly sweet and funny person who also happens to be insanely talented. Her work in Halloween Kills truly impressed this viewer which shouldn’t be all that surprising with what she’s already achieved. During our chat, she opened up about a surprising connection to her latest horror sequel, and a terrific movie she was in with Paul Bettany called Uncle Frank. Ms. Greer also chatted about her outlook on horror, and how that has grown working with David Gordon Green and Jamie Lee Curtis. Thankfully, she’s really taken to the genre, and hopefully, we’ll see her doing more of it.

Today is the day, Halloween Kills is ready to kill and kill and kill. Check out the latest sequel in theaters, and Peacock as well. 

Hi, Judy. How are you?

Judy Greer: Good. How are you?

I’m good. It’s always so great to talk to you. I talked to you back with Uncle Frank and you’re just such a delightful person.

Thanks. Did you watch the movie?

I loved this movie. Yes.

Can I tell you a piece of movie trivia?

Please.

The house that we burned down in Halloween was actually Uncle Frank’s house that we shot in for Uncle Frank.

Are you serious?

Yes. I was shooting Uncle Frank in Wilmington in the spring. And you know the house, of course.

Yeah.

It was the set for three weeks. And then we left and went back in the fall to Wilmington to shoot Halloween Kills. And one day, David Gordon Green sends me this text. He’s like, “Hey, we’re going to burn down this house. You should come to set tonight, it’ll be fun.” And he texted me a picture of the house they were burning down, and I was speechless for five full minutes. I was like, “Oh my God, they’re burning down Uncle Frank’s house.” Everything on Halloween Kills was so top secret that I couldn’t even reach out to Alan Ball and be like, “Alan, I have terrible news.”

Oh my God. I mean, it’s weirdly kind of cool, but kind of horrific.

I know. And it’s funny that those two movies are in my mind forever linked together.

That’s amazing. I got to say, looking back at your career, man, what an incredible career. You’re a part of Marvel. You’re a part of your Archer, the coolest show. Did you ever, ever in your life picture that you’d be a part of one of the most iconic slasher films in history?

No, that has been the greatest gift. No. I got so lucky. I got to be a part of the Halloween franchise. I got to be a part of the Planet of the Apes franchise. I got to be a part of the Jurassic Park franchise. I’ve actually gotten to dip my toe into these sort of forever stories.

Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, look, in this, you’re part of Laurie Strode’s life. You’re her daughter. That’s huge.

I know.

How has the experience been with the second film? And I won’t talk too much about some of the things that happen in the new film, because I do not want to spoil it. But what was it like taking this on, working with Jamie Lee? I mean, were you a fan of this franchise? Or was it kind of just left field for you?

I’m not a horror genre girl. Historically, it hasn’t been my go-to. But I was a fan of the original Halloween. I saw it later. I probably saw it when I was, I think, in late high school or early college, I can’t remember. But I saw it because it was so iconic. And I think in studying film, you learn so much about the history of horror through that. I mean, that was a very important film in the horror genre, because I think it was the first time they showed boobs and sex and stuff. To add that to the genre, it was made for such a small amount of money and it was so paired down. I feel like these are the things I learned about it, whether they’re true or not, but that it was kind of an important change in the genre.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, it technically started off, even though Black Christmas inspired it, but it started this legacy, not just Michael Myers, but Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. There wouldn’t have been those movies without Michael Myers and Halloween.

Right. It kind of created the iconic madman killer. He’s not a person, he’s a thing, Jason and Freddy and Michael. They should make that stupid pool painting, or no, the dogs playing poker with them. Anyway.

I have a shirt with kittens dressed as all those guys, so we’re close to that.

Same wavelength. Yeah, those movies are really important and they’re an important part of history and film history. And whether or not you’re a genre freak like that, you have to appreciate what it sort of added to filmmaking and art of its time.

Yeah, absolutely. And look, you give a fantastic performance.

Oh, thank you.

Well, I mean, look, often in horror, you don’t get to see the character dealing with the grief at the moment. It’s always, “Oh my God, they killed my best friend. Oh well, move on.” This, you deal with it. You and Andi deal with it on a constant level. How much of that was with you and your performance and how much of that was in the script?

That was scripted. And that’s one of the reasons why I think it’s so cool for genre movies to sort of hire opposite directors. To hire someone who does a lot of comedy and drama to shoot a horror movie and write a horror movie, you’re just going to get more grounded story points.

Yeah.

You can get characters dropping into the real emotion of the moment. And David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, and Scott Teems, they’re not afraid to take a second and tell the audience, “Hey, this person needs to mourn for a second or take in what’s happened.” And then I think it’s fun to hire someone who directs a ton of horror movies to direct a drama because you’re probably going to have a better-paced drama.

For sure.

It’s fun when you mix it up like that. And I think that’s why it’s interesting, the story, that the screenwriters and David Gordon Green trusted the humans, trusted the humanity of the story.

Yeah. Yeah. And then I think a lot of that too comes from Jamie Lee because we’re looking at an actress who literally helped inspire the whole “scream queen” thing. And she kind of stepped away, but she’s back, but she’s taking control of it, I would say.

Yeah.

Now, what was it like working with her and building this mother-daughter relationship?

It was, at first, kind of scary because she knows that, I forgot, well, I guess it didn’t occur to me going in, which it should have, she knows this world and this story and these people. She’s been living with it for 40 years.

Absolutely.

So I realized very quickly, and I mean this as a compliment, that going into the rehearsal process for Halloween, the last 2018 movie, that any ideas I have about Karen, I am lucky to have Jamie as a mirror and to bounce ideas off of, because no one knows this story in this world and this trauma like she does. So it was helpful. It was kind of like cheating in a way.

I can see that. I pointed out my review, the scene, especially with you two in the hospital, without giving too much away, there’s a really genuine moment there. Was it easy to find that?

It’s always easy with Jamie. It’s easy to act with her because she just goes right into it. And I feel genuinely like, yeah, it’s also a really well-written scene. We didn’t have to f*ck with it too much.

Yeah. Yeah.

And it was honest, and it was real, and David and the editor let it happen. And so I felt like that kind of stuff works really well. I think it adds a lot to the movie and to the story.

Well, we got a minute and I want to ask a little bit. I just want to kind of go into your own take on horror. And is this something, have you kind of found a love for it, being a part of this franchise?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Good to hear. So you’re up for more slasher movies?

I’d do them all day and all night. Yeah. I mean, especially, what I care about is working with cool people and telling a good story. And slasher movies are really f*cking fun to make. They’re as fun as making a comedy, in my opinion. The only thing that sucks is the night shoots, but you get used to it.