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Horror Geek Life takes the opportunity to speak with actor Tony Moran, known for portraying the unmasked Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween, as well many Troma-style B-horror films, like Clown Motel, Beg, and The Streets Run Red.
Horror Geek Life: Let’s start off with your first feature film, portraying the unmasked Michael Myers in the original Halloween from John Carpenter and Debra Hill. How excited were you to be a part of the film, and while you were filming did you have any idea that you would be cemented in one of the most beloved horror films of all time?
Tony Moran: Haha, right? I’m about the most blessed guy walking the Earth because of it, my friend. To tell you the truth, I did not want to do the part. I didn’t even want to do the interview. People don’t know this, especially if they’re younger, but back then, if you did a horror movie, it was just barely one step above doing soft porn. The reason is, and it was inside knowledge, the only way you could see T&A is either going through porno or horror. So, producers and directors didn’t take you very seriously if they knew that’s what you did. I didn’t want to do it. I thought it was pretty stupid anyways, the name of the movie is called Halloween and that’s pretty dumb. My agent was begging me, she told me Jamie Lee Curtis was in the movie and all that, and I told her, “I don’t know who that is.” She explained it and I was like, “I don’t care.” Because, you know I came from Happy Days and Paramount Studios with my little sister (Erin Moran) so I was kind of uppity with a stick up my butt. I said I wasn’t even going to go. My agent said, “Look, Donald Pleasence is in the movie,” and I had known her for over 10 years because she also represented my little sister. I could talk to her any way I wanted to, so I said, “You’re full of crap!” and she says, “No Tony, I swear to God, he’s in this movie!” I said, “Why would you be telling me this? Why are you pushing this thing down my throat?” I had never worked yet. This was going to be my first part. She said, “Tony, he signed the contract, he’s in!” Now, I was a huge fan of his, because he was a classic British actor. A majorly brilliant guy acting-wise. So, I thought to myself, okay, I have no idea why he’s in this movie, but if I get it, great, at least I got a credit with him, even though it’s a horror movie. If I don’t get it, well so what? Because no one is ever going to see the movie anyways, right? It’s a horror movie, it’s an independent, it’s really low budget, and it’ll have a week or two in the drive-in and that will be it. So, I went to the interview, and they talked to me, John Carpenter and Irwin Yablans, and they liked me and liked my face and I was hired.
Now, to give you an example, and it was too late by then, but my little sister, she was kind of estranged from the family. She had a pretty tough time with Hollywood. Hollywood pretty much beat her up pretty bad. But anyway, we ended up doing a convention together, and we hadn’t talked in years. This was in 2006, and she didn’t even know I had done the movie, because I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t even know if my parents knew I’d done the movie because I never talked to them about it. By then, what was I gonna say? “Oh, you know I did this movie, mom and dad,” or whatever. I wasn’t very close to them anyway, so I could give a shit. The only people that knew that I did the movie were my best friend at the time and my girlfriend. I was ashamed. I was in an acting workshop and I didn’t tell anybody that I was in the movie because it was degrading, you know? I was ashamed of myself. They asked me to do Halloween II and I said no, so they asked if they could use my footage from part 1 in part 2 and give me the credit. I said, “Absolutely, pay me for doing absolutely nothing? For sure! Get the credit? No problem!”
HGL: Was there a specific reason you didn’t want to do any of the sequels?
TM: Yeah, I didn’t want to wear a mask! Pretty soon, right there at that time, they figured out, why not use a stunt guy, because he could do the stunts, he doesn’t have to show his face, like Friday the 13th and all that shit, and it’s cheaper to do that. So, they just decided to start using stunt guys. I was an actor, not like this puppet with a fucking mask on. I just kept seeing every now and then all these Hallo,ween movies coming out and I was like “What in the world?” I had an invitation to go to the screening for the cast and crew, an invitation from John Carpenter I got in the mail, and I thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever heard, and I just threw it away. I didn’t even go, like an idiot! Like a complete moron!
HGL: We had read that there was some interest in the unmasked segments in the 2018 film. Is there any truth to that?
TM: No, no one ever told me there was going to be anyone getting unmasked. Here’s what they did do. They paid me and gave me the credit. They gave me a special credit that was “A Special Thanks to Tony Moran,” as in, I’m going to be in it, but not in it, if you know what I mean? So, maybe that’s what you heard.
HGL: Did you end up keeping the original mask?
TM: Nah. Nobody ever thought about doing any of that stuff back then. I saw the movie like six months after I did the part, and it started playing everywhere. I told my girlfriend, “Have you seen this? It’s playing everywhere. You want to see it? What do you think?” and she said, “Yeah, sure, fuck it, we’ll go,” and that’s how I saw the movie. You want to talk about being blessed, I denied that movie most of my life and I stepped in gold. It’s crazy stuff.
HGL: That’s amazing, though. It’s a great story to have!
TM: Oh yeah, as far as being an idiot!
HGL: Let’s switch over to Beg, a 2011 film from Kevin MacDonald. You took on the lead role of loose-cannon retired cop Jack Fox. The film has all the bones of a classic slasher and classic police detective story. Did you feel comfortable stepping right into that position?
TM: Oh yeah, and producing it, too. I got P.J. (Soles) to be in it, I got Michael Berryman to be in it, and I got Tony Todd to be in it. They couldn’t get them in without me, because I’m friends with them. It was my first time producing a movie and I was totally comfortable taking the lead. You know, cameos, leads, it doesn’t matter, I love to act. It’s just a second nature for me. It started off as a short back in 2007, and in 2009 Kevin contacted me to ask what I thought about making it a feature film, and if I could get a few of my friends to be in it. You know, of course I would do my best, because that means they’re not going to get paid really well. So, it’s got to be really heavy negotiation on my part.
HGL: That’s a lot of star power as far as horror icons go. Do you think if it had a bigger budget, it would be a significant mark in the horror genre?
TM: Oh, for sure. He really screwed up as far as the distribution goes and all that. I don’t know what he was thinking, but It could have been way bigger. I mean look, my first part back in, then you got Tony Todd, Michael Berryman, and P.J. Soles. You’re talking all-star shit.
HGL: Tiffany Shepis, too!
TM: Oh, yeah. Tiffany and Debbie Rochon. I’m good friends with them. As a side note, Tiffany, her daughter was one of the kids that got shot out here where we live in that Saugus school shooting. Her daughter, man. Can you imagine?
HGL: No, I can’t. That’s insanely sad.
TM: I mean, you see that stuff on the news and then it’s Tiffany and she only lives 15-20 minutes away from me. It’s just really bad. But anyways, I love Tiffany. She’s great.
HGL: Troma-style B body-horror movies seem to be your thing. It’s evident in Paul M. McAlarney’s new film The Streets Run Red. It’s another mix of slasher horror and a detective story. We got a chance to see it before the interview and the film is beyond brutal. What was your experience working on the film, and how do you think the horror community will receive it?
TM: God, I don’t know, man. In one respect, I could give a fuck. I don’t care what they think. I loved it, and I loved doing the part. Because it’s so different, I would think they’d dig it. It’s so different and brutal. It’s punk through and through. I love punk. I grew up with punk and heavy metal and shit. It’s great. I think it will be well received, but if it’s not, I could give a shit.
HGL: As long as you’re enjoying doing it. That’s that thing about art. It’s so subjective and it’s about the artist.
TM: Exactly, and I love working with Paul. He’s great. He’s really cool. The whole crew is.
HGL: That was your second collaboration with Paul, do you guys have anything in the works for the future?
TM: Not yet. His producer, Dave Sullivan, is a filmmaker too and I did something for him last year. But nothing from Paul lately, so I don’t really know what’s going on. Did you ever get to see the first one, The Ungovernable Force?
HGL: Not yet, but it’s on the list!
TM: I played a completely different character. I played a mafia Don.
HGL: That sounds right up your ally, though!
TM: Yeah, pretty much! Hahaha.
HGL: What draws you to the Troma-style B-horror? Is it just generally more fun for you to work on the B-movies than it is the bigger stuff?
TM: Yeah, absolutely. I have an agent, kind of, in Hollywood. I don’t go on interviews. I don’t do any of that shit. I did that when I was a kid. See, Halloween was independent and that kind of spoiled me. I did a lot of TV work in Hollywood, but the independent stuff, there’s nothing like it. It’s long hours, and usually you’re working at 2,3,4 in the morning, but it’s just the atmosphere and the people. Everybody is collaborating for one goal and everybody’s in. They’re not belonging to a union and looking at their watch and a bunch of shit. It’s a lot of fun and it’s like creativeness-wise, there are no barriers and no lines drawn, and I love that.
HGL: So, the freedom and intrinsic value of having that creative outlet draws you the most?
TM: Absolutely. I love it, and everybody that I’ve worked with, including Kevin and Paul, they’re all the same. They are so excited to do a movie. It’s not like a job. It’s great and there’s no studios breathing heat down their backs and it’s just fun times.
HGL: Is that what you think draws people to keep coming back and watching these Troma-style films, even 30+ years later?
TM: Absolutely, because you can see that just the filming and the movie itself was wild to make. There’s so much energy out of everybody all the time and you can tell. It’s not fake energy, it’s real shit. I think that’s why, it’s so innocent and clean. It’s not pretentious and shit.
HGL: Do you have any favorites in the genre?
TM: Not really any favorites. It just depends on what the idea was and what the storyline is. It could be really terrible and still I would love it sometimes. Kind of like The Streets Run Red. It’s so bad that it’s great. It’s just awesome!
HGL: Are there any films you’ve got coming out that you’re excited about?
TM: I don’t think I have anything right now that’s coming out. I did a movie called Clown Motel last year or the year before, and they’re doing a new one, a sequel. I did a favor for him. I charged him, but it was cheap. It was his first time, and now he wants me for the second one, and I was like, “It was a favor for you, what I did, man,” and I’m pretty integral for the movie, but I guess they couldn’t afford it, so they’re going to figure something else out. That was a very popular movie. That movie is actually pretty good. It’s really, really, really, hard to combine real horror and comedy, and this guy did it. This guy pulled it off. I promise you if he didn’t, I’d say he didn’t. I have no problems being honest, but he pulled it off.
HGL: Is that the one film of yours that you would suggest to your fans to check out?
TM: Yes, absolutely, because it’s a real place in Nevada called The Clown Motel. It’s a clown-themed motel.
HGL: No, thanks.
TM: Haha! I know, I know! It’s got hundreds of these clown dolls in the lobby and on each door there’s a different clown, it’s really weird, and it’s right next to a cemetery. It’s really bizarre.
HGL: That sounds like the kind of place to check out for 20 minutes and then drive away from extremely fast.
TM: Hahaha. I agree! I really appreciate you guys taking the time with me. Thanks for the interest!
Follow Tony Moran on Twitter @tmoran_mmyers78 and keep an eye out for his new film The Streets Run Red.
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