'Halloween Kills' Star Omar J. Dorsey Reveals Inspiration Behind Sheriff Barker's Look

Image via Universal Pictures

Are you a horror movie fan in general?

I became a horror movie fan when I got to college. I didn’t like horror movies. I didn’t like being scared. My cousin made me watch Friday the 13th when I was like seven years old and I was traumatized. It took me until I was like 19 years old to watch The Shining and really appreciate the movie. I was like, “oh, OK, I don’t know why I’m still scared.” So then I started watching them and then I started watching Halloween and everything else, man, and I became a big fan of them.

Where does Halloween rank for you?

Number one. Next question?

[Laughs] What was it like when you first got on a horror set?

You know what’s so crazy? It’s like you watch the movies and you hold it up to this high pedestal. But then you’re on set; you see a guy with his guts hanging out, blood everywhere and they say, “cut.” He’s up smoking a cigarette afterwards, we’re having a conversation, and [then they are] back on the ground, bloody. It sort of takes you out of the suspended belief or whatever.

But I mean, the first time seeing that, you weren’t a little like, “ew”?

Yeah. When I walked on set the first time we did the first one in 2018 and I saw these bodies, I was like, “Oh my gosh!” But now it’s just like, “OK.”

How much of Sheriff Barker was already on the page? Did you add a lot to him?

Yeah. I did. I told them, I said, “This is a white town, right?” They’re like, “Yeah.” I was like, “Well, it’s a white town, bro. It ain’t Atlanta. It’s a white town. I want to wear a cowboy hat. I want to wear cowboy boots, but I want to sound Black as hell.” It’s just a dichotomy. I still want to sound like, “say, bro.” I don’t want to have any kind of accent. I want to talk like a regular brother, but I want to have that cowboy hat on my head and I want to have cowboy boots.

We designed the character sort of after that crazy sheriff that was in Milwaukee, David Clarke. I was like, “I want to look like that dude.” I had the thick beard. I used to keep it clean, but I said, “I want it thick. This dude don’t really go to a real barber. He cuts his own beard.” You know what I’m saying? I wanted to look like that.

They gave me all the leeway in the world with what I look like, a lot of that stuff, man. But that’s what David and Danny are though, man. They give you all the leeway. If you mess up, they’ll let you know, but they trust you.

Do you have any favorite scenes from the film?

Look, man, I’m going to tell you the truth. I’m not spoiling anything, but that last scene… I’m just going to say that. That was my favorite scene. I did not see that coming at all. I said, “What?” I was not ready. I almost cried. I was like, “Oh my gosh. Okay, that’s what we doing?”

I do want to say, shouts out to the Black guy still being around. There was a lot of Barker kind of just taking in this situation and trying to figure out what’s going on. Something tells me when that third film comes out, it’s going to be a lot of... I don’t want to say hellfire and brimstone, but I feel like I want to see Officer Barker get in there.

I talked to David about it, man. He was like, “Yo, we got some stuff for you, man.” I said, “Okay, cool, man.” Because you’re right. It all takes place in one night. So you’re thinking this guy’s a sheriff of a sleepy town, not thinking anything about it. “Oh, Michael Myers escaped? OK, whatever, man. Some people escaped from a bus. We got to find them. Oh, one was found and now oh, they burned a house down? Nobody dead. Oh my goodness, what is going on?” This all happens in one day, from that first movie to the second movie. Now it’s time to digest.

Halloween’s coming up. Are you going to be that guy who’s at home or in the theater watching Halloween Kills on Halloween? Do you have plans for Michael Myers plans for Halloween this year?

Nah, but I’m hanging out with my boys. We dressing up as the Reservoir Dogs. Or we’re going to go somewhere. I’ve seen the movie. I’ll see it another couple of times, but wear a ski mask or something. Well, you know that we wear a mask anyway.

I was going to say, I’m surprised you don’t just walk in as Michael Myers.

Or as Sheriff Barker with a hat.

What else have you got going on?

Yeah. I’ve been in New York for the last couple of months. I’ll be there until January doing season two of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Doing that until January, then going back to do Halloween Ends and then going to do Season 7 of Queen Sugar. And then I’m going to lie down.