Zombie: There’s a scene, in the first remake, where Michael bursts through the door. Everybody knew what was going to happen, because the scene was in the script. But Tyler’s big, and I don’t know if she [actress Jenny Gregg Stewart] had seen his mask yet. When he came smashing through the door, her scream was completely genuine. She told me it was; she was freaked out.

Tyler Mane, Adult Michael, Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009): You mean Jenny Gregg Stewart from the first movie? I don’t remember that! We always rehearse the scenes several times before shooting, and I only put the mask on at the very last minute. So that surprises me, but maybe. In the moment, it’s good that she was scared, I guess!

Daeg Faerch, Young Michael, Halloween (2007): There’s that one shot right before I kill [William Forsythe], and the camera is outside the house looking in. The killing scenes weren’t scary for me, but they left me alone in that house for that take, and I was afraid of the dark. I was young, and I was by myself.

Stuntwork is key to Michael’s enduring appeal; in most Halloween films, the masked villain appears to be just about indestructible. Stunt coordinators like Warlock and Donna Keegan (from Halloween H20) work to ensure their Michaels have what they need to safely hit their marks—but human actors aren’t always as durable as the character they’re playing.

Castle: The most difficult scene is easy for me to remember. It was a scene shot in the middle of the night, where Michael jumps on top of a car as he’s escaping the mental hospital. It wasn’t freezing, but it was in the mid-40s. I was in a hospital gown and underpants. I don’t think John let me know what he had in store for me.

He turns to the crew and says something like, “O.K., start the water cannons.” The hospital’s sprinkler system was more like a fire hose. The water arced into the air, and when it came down on me, it felt like icicles hitting me on the back.

He yells “action.”

It was the most painful thing I’d ever experienced outside of a broken arm. That was the one scene that I really remember thinking, “Maybe I should have got more than $25.”