Producer Malek Akkad has revealed his early plans to bring back Paul Rudd as Tommy Doyle in Halloween Kills, though he seems to be ultimately happy with how things worked out with the character’s new actor. Originally, Tommy was played by child actor Brian Andrews in 1978’s Halloween before Rudd took over the role in Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers. It was one of Rudd’s very first movies, and he obviously went on to become a huge name in Hollywood.
Halloween Kills goes all in with the fan service which includes bringing back a plethora of characters from the original movie. Among them is Tommy Doyle, but unlike most of the other returning characters, he’s been given a new actor to portray him. Anthony Michael Hall plays the part this time around, becoming the third actor to portray Tommy on the big screen.
At a press roundtable for Halloween Kills, producer Malek Akkad opened up about the possibility of Paul Rudd returning for the movie. While Rudd’s incarnation of Tommy existed in a Halloween franchise timeline not acknowledged by the Blumhouse movies, Akkad admits he still wanted to bring back Rudd for the role. The idea was exciting to him as it would be a full-circle moment for both him and Rudd, as they essentially broke into the business together with Halloween 6. As Akkad tells Screen Rant, however, he feels a bit disappointed that it didn’t work out that way:
“I was so excited to have Paul reprise that role and would have been wonderful in a way. Like you said, that was my first producorial role and even in the casting of Paul, I remember it just like it was yesterday. He hadn’t done a film, I’m pretty sure it was his first film at that point, so we’re both kind of starting and what a spark he had, then you know the difficulties we had on 6 – don’t get me started – but it would have warmed my heart and definitely there’s some disappointment there.”
It wasn’t meant to be with Paul Rudd, but that doesn’t mean Akkad isn’t happy with how Halloween Kills turned out. In fact, he feels that the movie comes out for the better without Rudd attached. He praises Anthony Michael Hall’s performance, feeling confident fans will take to this new version of the character. Akkad also noted that Rudd’s great fame and comedy work may have been too distracting for viewers.
“But I ultimately think that Anthony Michael Hall fulfills this role in a way that’s maybe less jarring for the narrative and maybe won’t take people out of it. Because Paul Rudd is so big for a lot of things like comedy and whatever, he’s a fantastic actor, I think it turned out this way for a reason and we’re so excited. Anthony Michael Hall does a knockout performance, it’s definitely gonna be one of the fans’ favorites.”
As for original Tommy Doyle actor Brian Andrews, it’s not entirely clear why he wasn’t brought back for the role. The other of the two children babysat by Laurie in the original movie, Lindsey Wallace, returns with original actress Kyle Richards, with other stars like Charles Cyphers and Nancy Stephens also returning. Andrews has also publicly said he feels “hurt” about the recasting of Tommy Doyle, and some fans were hoping to get him involved with a petition on Change.org.
Halloween Kills is now playing in movie theaters in addition to streaming on Peacock. This news comes to us from Screen Rant.
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