5 actresses who could replace Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie in Halloween

Emma Mackey

Last but certainly not least, we have Emma Mackey, a British-French actress on the rise. The 27-year-old is still just starting her acting career, but it’s been seriously impressive so far. Her TV debut came in 2019 with the role of Maeve Wiley in the Netflix hit show Sex Education, a part she just reprised for the final time in September of this year. Fans of the series absolutely loved her portrayal and she became a favorite amongst viewers right away. She did a great job bringing complex emotions to the character, who seemed rough around the edges but was actually just a sweet girl with attachment issues.

Mackey has appeared in five feature-length movies so far, including The Winter Lake, Eiffel, Death on the Nile, Emily, and more recently, the biggest movie of 2023: Barbie. The talented actress was recognized for her acting skills this year when she won the BAFTA Rising Star Award, a much-deserved achievement.

After the third season of Sex Education was released, Mackey opened up about moving on from teenage roles, telling Hunger about the show heading to its conclusion: “But the bittersweet nature of it is that I also can’t be 17 my whole life.”

This suggests Mackey might be ready to move on from playing high schoolers, though she can certainly still pass for that age on TV. Having an actress in their later 20s to play Laurie Strode in the Halloween show might actually work best, depending on the timeline it intends to follow. Of course, throughout the movies, we’ve seen Laurie grow up as the years pass. Depending on potential time jumps or other narrative choices, casting someone who could look older could work to the show’s benefit.

Honestly, cast Emma Mackey in everything! She’s such a great actress and deserves more starring roles. At the time of this writing, her IMDb page lists one upcoming project in post-production, meaning she might have a free schedule to film something once the strike ends.