What happened to actor Daeg Faerch after he played the young Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s 2007 Halloween remake? Tyler Mane plays the adult version of Michael in the movie, but Faerch has a substantial role as the ten-year-old version of the character — a portrayal that garnered him critical acclaim. The 2007 slasher flick is a reimagining of John Carpenter’s 1978 horror movie of the same name, and was mostly inspired by the original’s alternate version. Overall, it’s the ninth installment in the Halloween franchise.
The movie has the same premise as the original, with serial killer Michael Myers terrorizing Laurie Strode and her friends in his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. Zombie’s version more deeply explores the psyche of Michael Myers, attempting to answer the question of what drives him to kill. Carpenter’s original Halloween didn’t offer viewers a direct reason for why Michael is so murderous, though the 1995 sequel took an unfortunate stab at it.
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Daeg Faerch’s role as young Michael starts off at the very beginning of the movie. The character is shown to possess psychopathic tendencies early on. Michael murders a school bully, along with his mother’s abusive boyfriend, his sister’s boyfriend, and his sister—Judith—herself. Mane plays Michael as he goes through the motions of a long, complicated trial. Of course, young Michael is found guilty of first-degree murder and sent to a sanitarium, where he becomes dissociative, obsessed with making masks, and murders a nurse. From there, the movie jumps ahead 15 years.
Following his role as Michael Myers as a child actor, Daeg Faerch acted in other movies and shows. He was supposed to return for Zombie’s Halloween II, but had to be recast since he had grown too tall. In 2008 alone, Faerch went on to act in eight different projects. The most notable among them was the film Hancock, starring Will Smith, in which Faerch played a French-American neighborhood boy. That year, he was also in two episodes of the TV show Pushing Daisies and appeared in the Christmas comedy, Wreck the Halls, with Mickey Rooney. The following year he was part of three projects, including the gruesome Run! Bitch! Run!, and in 2010, he played the title role in the film, Sebastian.
In 2012, a head injury put Faerch’s career on hold for a few years. Later, from 2015-2018, he sporadically held small roles in other on-screen projects. Other than acting in Halloween and other movies and shows, Faerch has branched out into a music career as a rapper who performs under the name Great Daeg AKA Daeg; his albums include 2018’s “Stunt from the 6”, 2019’s “Vlad” and “Albino Animal”, and 2020’s “Quarantime”, “Wicked Wicked West”, and “Pieces”. Faerch has also been a model and producer, expanding on his promising acting career to show multifaceted talent.
Next: Rob Zombie’s Halloween Movies Aren’t Bad – They’re Misunderstood