by Mike Schoonveld:
Erik Preston may not be a name you instantly recognize, but he certainly had a role that many remember. Seen only briefly in 1988’s Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Erik was added to the list of creepy movie kids when he played “Young Michael” in the film. The unemotional stare at Jamie Lloyd through the mirror where she was trying on a clown costume sent chills down my spine. Even though his appearance was brief, he makes a worthy entry into the Halloween universe, where he will forever be known as “Young Michael.”
He has gone on to other projects, including short films, television and is currently in pre-production for Scream Queen Campfire. Not only is he an actor, but has also done work behind the camera as a production assistant on Prank, a horror anthology with segments directed by horror vixens Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell and Heather Langenkamp. Unfortunately, the film was never released. He was also a key set production assistant on Danielle’s directorial debut feature, Among Friends.
I recently caught up with Erik to find out, not only what his time was like on the set of Halloween 4, but how the film changed his career, what he’s working on now and his plans for the future.
Mike Schoonveld: Welcome to Dark Media, Erik and thank you for joining me as we celebrate 35 Years of HALLOWEEN.
Erik Preston: You are welcome, sir. Thank you for including me in your retrospective.
MS: What can you tell us about your time on Halloween 4?
EP: My time on Halloween 4 was fun but limited. I was only on set for 3 days. A couple days was plain ol’ extra work. The 3rd, the final day, was the famous costume scene.
MS: Halloween 4 was your first appearance in a film. That had to be pretty exciting for you as a kid.
EP: Yeah, Halloween 4 was my first appearance in a film. I did a few local commercials in Salt Lake City before that, so I was already familiar with being on set. With that being said, experiencing a movie set was a much larger experience than shooting a commercial.
MS: What were you thinking going into the audition knowing you were playing “Young Michael”?
EP: I actually didn’t audition for the Michael Myers role. I auditioned for the Frankenstein kid in the school scene where they’re all making fun of Jamie Lloyd and saying horrible things, like “Jamie’s mommy’s a mummy!” and so on. I still can’t believe how mean those kids were written! I don’t know how much time passed from the audition to when I received the call from my agent. I want to say it was like 2 or 3 days, but when she called me she told me that I didn’t get the part but they wanted me to play young Michael Myers instead. I was already familiar with the Halloween franchise as I grew up on horror movies (my parents where cool like that), so I was actually excited to be playing the “guy in the white mask” as a kid version.
MS: That’s awesome! Has being in one of the biggest horror franchises changed your life?
EP: I would say it has changed my life but it wasn’t until I was an adult, thanks to MySpace and Sean Clark. Before the internet got really big there wasn’t really any way for me to connect with fans, so honestly I had no idea how big Halloween really was. I knew it was a successful franchise, but as far as my small part in the movie having any significance, I had no idea people really cared. I had no doubt that people wanted to meet Danielle, as we all watched her career grow over the years, but I never thought my 3 seconds of screen time would have the effect that it eventually had. I can honestly say that I would not be where I am in my life, at this moment, if it had not been for a random fan finding me on MySpace and opening those doors for me.
MS: Well, I think we all owe that random fan a very huge “Thank You” for finding you! Do you get recognized on the street when you go out?
EP: It’s very rare that I get recognized on the street but it has happened. Obviously they don’t recognize me from when I was a kid but I have been recognized as an adult from sites like Facebook and MySpace, back when that was THE site.
MS: What’s MySpace? Hahaha! Aside from Scream Queen Campfires, what else are you working on?
EP: I’m not really working on anything at the moment. I am looking to get some of my own stuff produced that I want to direct. Right now I’m just writing stuff though, so I don’t have anything that’s ready to film tomorrow or anything. I have been approached to act in some things but I don’t know what the status is on those at this time.
MS: Have you done or are you doing any horror conventions?
EP: I have done a few horror conventions. Shortly after, fans started finding me in 2006, Sean Clark got in touch with me and got me on the convention circuit. My first convention was Monster Mania in August 2007, right before Rob Zombie’s Halloween came out. I’ve done about 5 conventions since then. Also, it was (just recently) announced on the halloweenmovies.com facebook page, that we will be doing a 35 Years of Terror convention this November to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Halloween and the franchise itself. So, unless something comes up, I should be at that convention.
MS: That’s great! I’m sure a lot of fans are going to be looking forward to that convention! What is your lasting memory working on Halloween 4?
EP: Well as I mentioned I was only on set for 3 days when we shot, so I remember all 3 days pretty well. I was 8 years old when we shot so I wasn’t so young that I couldn’t remember it. I guess the thing I mainly remember was the amount of time we spent setting up, shooting, then resetting to do another take. Although the costume scene lasts like 2-3 seconds, it took us 7 hours to shoot that. It was a lot of “Erik, come stand in front of the mirror. Danielle go stand by the door”…then they’d adjust the equipment again. After a few hours we finally broke for lunch. After I came back, they put me in the costume, threw some blood on me, gave me a giant knife to hold…and then the process started over with me standing in front of the mirror while Danielle stood on the side. Then we’d switch…you get the idea.
There was also a deleted scene that was shot for the film where Danielle and Ellie (Cornell) were walking down the street and Danielle was eating ice cream. I wasn’t in the scene myself but I was required to be there on set. I had to watch Danielle eat ice cream while I didn’t get any 🙁 I guess that memory has always stayed with me, too. And of course, it was the first time I met Danielle the morning we shot the costume scene.
MS: Erik, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to DarkMedia and sharing your memories of Halloween 4.
EP: Thank you again, Mike! Take Care!
DarkMedia contributor Mike Schoonveld covers mainly movies, and there’s nothing that gets his blood going like a good horror film, old and new. When he’s not writing or watching horror, you can find him catching re-runs of television shows like I Love Lucy, The Simpsons, and Reba, among many. Last year, Mike was able to flex his writing muscles by submitting a screenplay to the Shriekfest Film and Screenplay festival where he was a finalist for “Best Feature Screenplay.” While he didn’t win, that hasn’t stopped him from pushing forward to establish a screenwriting career in horror. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @horrorguy30, Stage32.com and you can check out his blog at horrorguy30.blogspot.com.
Mike is currently working on two scripts: Slicer: The Sauk County Massacre (formerly titled Hell Weekend) and The Haunting of Willow Falls Manor.
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