It should be noted that the 1978 “Halloween” was Curtis’ first major acting role. For the first part of her career, Curtis worked largely in horror, making “The Fog,” “Prom Night,” “Terror Train,” and “Halloween II” over the course of the next few years. Curtis has also remained incredibly loyal to the “Halloween” series, having appeared in eight of the 13 movies to date (if one counts a voice cameo in “Halloween III: Season of the Witch”). Indeed, it was Curtis’ status as a horror icon that ultimately put the kibosh on screenwriter Teems’ idea to set extended portions of “Halloween Kills” in 1978. To do so would have meant casting a younger actress as the young Laurie, and ultimately Teems’ co-screenwriters, Green and McBride, decided that wasn’t entirely wise.
There was also brief talk of casting a younger actress, but then using special effects to superimpose a young Curtis’ face over the new actress’s face, a practice that would have taken far too much time and money to achieve. Incidentally, there are multiple scenes in “Halloween Kills” set in 1978, and there are a few brief shots of Dr. Loomis, the character played by Donald Pleasance in the original. An actor named Tom Jones, Jr. played Loomis, as he and Pleasance, with the right makeup, look uncannily alike. Dr. Loomis was voiced by Colin Mahan, who also provided a voice recording for the character in the 2018 “Halloween.”
Loomis, however, was used sparingly in the “Kills” flashbacks, and his scenes were shot at night, allowing the filmmakers to obscure his face and kind of “cheat” his presence. The first draft of “Kills” might have included more of Laurie than it did of Dr. Loomis, so a lookalike was out of the question.