Image via Universal Pictures
This conversation with Omar J. Dorsey, star of Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar and many other dope series and films, was one I had been looking forward to since April of this year. For those not keeping score, I got to speak with Dorsey earlier this year, discussing the hard work he put in doing the Aretha series and Season 6 of Queen Sugar back-to-back, during a whole pandemic. I’d remembered that he played Sheriff Barker in the 2018 Halloween revival, and had been extremely hype for that film’s sequel, Halloween Kills (which is currently in theaters and streaming on Peacock).
When Blumhouse announced that the super-successful Halloween would be getting TWO sequels—Halloween Kills and the upcoming Halloween Ends—I already knew what time it was. Halloween sets the stage for the final battle; Kills would surely be the bleeker Empire Strikes Back second sequel, and Ends would be that aforementioned final battle. Without going into too much detail, I feel like I got the Kills that I wanted—and I was able to get the reconnect with Dorsey that I wanted.
Here’s our latest conversation with Dorsey about his history with horror films, how he came up with Sheriff Barker’s cowboy hat ‘fit, the reaction to the film from early screenings, the future of the Halloween franchise, and what he’s working on next. And yes, there’s is a full Spoiler Warning on this conversation. If you’ve not seen Halloween Kills and don’t want to be (mildly?) spoiled, check the film out then come back.
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.
I saw that you’d recently hosted a Halloween Kills screening. What was the audience’s reaction to the film during that screening?
The reaction when everybody was walking out of theater was like, “Oh my gosh. Whoa.” People who weren’t even horror fans, they were taken aback and they were like, “Man, this is really good.” I saw a screening about three weeks ago as me and a couple of my friends, we were in New York and we watched it and they’re not horror fans. They were like, “Yo, this one of my favorite horror movie I’ve ever seen.”
Oh word?
While they were watching it, they were thinking, “Man, this thing is gory. Michael Myers is on a mission.” It’s like usually he ain’t really mad at people. He’s upset they tried to burn him. You know what I’m saying? So he’s coming for them, man.
There’s one kill that sticks out my mind—no pun intended—is when he stabs a man with the knife in his eye. And I’m like, “Oh, he’s pissed.”
Yo, it’s a few of them. I don’t want to give up too much, but when he was on the staircase with old boy? I was like, “Oh my!” And he was looking at the boyfriend’s girl like, “Yeah, I’m doing this to your man.” Wow, that dude. This ain’t the Michael Myers that we used to. He has de-evolved as Jamie Lee Curtis has said. He has evolved into something different.
We’re in an interesting time, especially with this film and the recent Candyman revival. We’re going to that original story and revisiting that, but it’s not a situation where it’s an entire movie of Michael Myers just gunning through the whole town. We’re able to get a lot. It’s evolved into more than just Laurie and Michael. It’s really what this does to a city, what this does to a town.
Exactly. What it does to a society. It’s funny that we shot this film in 2019, and a lot of the things that happened in 2020, it really reminded me of it. When 2020 things were happening, I called David and I was like, “Dude, our film really reflects [the times] and I hope people don’t think that we’re trying to bite off of all the things that happened.” We shot this movie in 2019. It was supposed to come last year.
I hate to paraphrase, but when we spoke last, you were like, “It’s almost a shame that this movie didn’t come out when it was supposed to.”
It would’ve been like The Simpsons predicting the future.
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.
