Danielle Andrea Harris is an American television and film actress and director, known for playing two different roles in four films from the Halloween series. She is considered a "scream queen".
Halloween[]
In 1988, Harris was living in New York City and managed to get an audition when her mother took her to meet Dwight H. Little, where she auditioned for the role of Jamie Lloyd, Michael Myers' niece, in the movie Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. The scene that she auditioned with was the one where she questions if Rachel loved her like a real sister, and she won the role. She celebrated her eleventh birthday on the set of Halloween 4. As soon as the movie was released, she was allowed to see the movie and thought it was very cool to see her name in the opening. Harris kept her clown costume for years and even went trick-or-treating in 1988 around Queens as Jamie Lloyd. Years later, she sold the costume to a dedicated Halloween fan for his own personal collection.
In 1989, she would reprise the role in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers. In the infamous laundry chute scene, Jamie was originally stabbed in the leg, but the shot was cut from the film by request of the MPAA because it was deemed too disturbing. Harris still owns the prosthetic leg.
The character of Jamie returned in 1995 for Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, but Harris did not participate due to the treatment of her character in the script and the fact that she requested $5,000 to appear in the film which, while much less than what she was paid for Halloween 4, was not agreed upon. J. C. Brandy ended up playing Jamie in the film, a decision with which many of the fans of the Halloween series were dissatisfied, since Danielle Harris had become very popular with them.
Sometime around 2006, Harris was at a horror convention in Boston and was told by a fan that there were plans for a Halloween remake to be made by Rob Zombie. This was the first time that Harris had heard of this, also being told that there were rumors that she was to play Laurie Strode. Harris told her manager that she wanted a part in the film, however not as Laurie but in a different role. She contacted the production and was told Rob Zombie did not want anyone from the original movies to be in the remake, so she tried by auditioning for the role of Annie Brackett, a character she felt was closer to her own personality. Zombie was impressed with the audition and she won the role. She was later surprised to learn that her character would survive the events of the movie. Harris reprised her role in Rob Zombie's Halloween II, released on August 28, 2009.
Harris was asked if she was to appear in the rumored Halloween III but she said that, since her character was killed off in Halloween II, she did not have any plans to appear in any more Halloween films. However, when Judy Greer was announced to be playing the character of Laurie Strode's daughter in Halloween (2018), Harris said in a live stream that she was "bummed" that her daughter would be included but not be Jamie for what was reported as being the very last Halloween movie, saying, "It wouldn't hurt the movie to have Jamie reunited [with Laurie]" and further stating that she had contacted the producers about appearing in some capacity such as a flashback, but "that didn't happen as they were not interested."[1]
Appearances[]
| Film | Character | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers | Jamie Lloyd | 1988 |
| Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers | Jamie Lloyd | 1989 |
| Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (Producer's Cut) | Young Jamie (archive footage) | 1995 |
| Halloween | Annie Brackett | 2007 |
| Halloween II | Annie Brackett | 2009 |
Gallery[]
Notes and trivia[]
- Both of Harris' characters, Jamie Lloyd and Annie Brackett, find themselves in a fateful situation when about to take a bath, in Halloween 4 and in Halloween II, respectively.
- Harris had never done a nude scene (or even a swimsuit scene) before the Halloween remake. Playing Annie under attack by Michael while she is naked from the waist up, Harris found that her feelings of exposure and vulnerability helped her portrayal. She decided to stay uncovered while the cameras were not rolling, and filming the encounter took several days in the winter.
- Harris is friends with J. C. Brandy, her successor in the role of Jamie Lloyd.
- Other franchise films featuring Harris include the first Urban Legend, the first Stake Land, the second Laid to Rest, the second See No Evil, the second Redwood Massacre, the second, third and fourth Hatchet, and the animated remake of Night of the Living Dead.
External links[]
Danielle Harris on Wikipedia- Danielle Harris on the Internet Movie Database
- Danielle Harris (@halloweengal) on Twitter
- Official website
