Movies

Robert Englund says he is 'too long in the tooth' to play Freddy Krueger again

Actor portrayed slasher icon in eight films.

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Published on February 13, 2020 04:13PM EST

Robert Englund has told EW that he is “too long in the tooth” to reprise the role of iconic horror movie villain Freddy Krueger. The actor originated the role of the dream-invading killer in 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, which was written and directed by Wes Craven. Englund reprised the role in seven more movies — including 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason — but was replaced by Jackie Earle Hailey for 2010’s remake of Craven’s original film. That movie was received poorly and, in the years since, many horror fans have supported the idea that England should return to the franchise.

“I don’t think I’ll ever don the makeup again,” the actor told EW. “I’m a little too old for that. I’m a little long in the tooth to play Freddy now. I think if I was doing it, it would be more like Freddy vs. Viagra.”

Englund admitted he would be happy to play a smaller role, if the franchise is rebooted.

“I know that the rights to A Nightmare on Elm Street have gone back to the Wes Craven family estate,” said the actor. “And I know they’ve looked at a lot of different submissions and ideas. I’m hoping they’re open-minded, because there’s a lot of young screenwriters and wannabe director-screenwriters that have been kind of obsessed with the horror genre and have some interesting ideas. I would love to be invited back if they decide to reboot A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: The Dream Warriors. I would love to come back and maybe play the dream analyst (the character of Dr. Elizabeth Simms, played by Elizabeth Pointer), the woman in the therapy sessions who doesn’t believe that there can be such a thing as a collective nightmare that’s common to a group of people. I think it would be fun for the fans, it would be fun for me to play the part originally played by a woman and do a flip on that. I think there’s kind of a tradition in the horror genre of cameos like that, so that would be fun for me. But I have no idea whether they’re going to go on and create completely new stories or whether they’re going to go back and do prequels or origin stories on the Freddy Krueger myth. I don’t know what they’re up to. So, I’m just waiting to hear.”

Fans will definitely be able to see the actor on his new Travel Channel show True Terror with Robert Englund, which premieres March 18.

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