Robert Englund Reveals His Favorite Freddy Krueger Moments
By Cheryl Eddy
How did a classically trained performer go from quirky character actor to slasher icon? New documentary Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story takes the viewer through the life and career of the man who brought Freddy Krueger to terrifying (and sometimes hilarious) life in the Nightmare on Elm Street series.
io9 got a chance to chat with Englund about the doc—which is co-directed by Gary Smart and Christopher Griffiths, and hits Screambox and digital June 6, with a Blu-ray release July 25. We also asked about Stranger Things, Freddy’s snappy one-liners, and how Nightmare creator Wes Craven helped him embrace his place in horror history.
Cheryl Eddy, io9: The documentary digs into something I’ve always wondered, which is what it’s been like for you to be so associated with this one hugely iconic horror character. You mention in the movie that Wes Craven actually helped you put it into perspective. What advice or encouragement did he give you?
Robert Englund: I think what Wes did was to remind me to respect the horror idiom. I had come out of the theater in the early ‘70s, and I was a bit of a snob. I had been doing lots of theater—Shakespeare and the classics—and even though as a child I loved horror films, I’d sort of forgotten that. Wes reminded me how important they are and to respect them. That helped me navigate the success of the franchise, because it was pretty fast and pretty overwhelming. I went from just being a utility actor and playing best friends and sidekicks in the ‘70s, and I had a nice career, but almost overnight I did a science fiction television series [V] and then Nightmare on Elm Street, and because they’re genre, they were both international hits. Fantasy, horror, science fiction—they travel much better than, let’s say, rom-coms, [because rom-coms are] very specific culturally. It was this great boost to my career to be an international actor.
io9: I loved hearing the tidbit in the documentary that you signed on for Elm Street in large part because you had a window open in your schedule.
Englund: Yeah, that was a hiatus.
io9: Did you have any idea at the time that it would be so huge? Was there a specific moment where you were like, “Whoa, this is a phenomenon”?
Englund: I do remember at some point—I’m trying to remember what the scene was or the sequence—but the set decorator and art crew, scenic crew had done some really quick, overnight, kind of surrealistic set in Nightmare one, and I remember thinking, “This is pretty great stuff.” I knew it was low-budget; they kind of protected me from the budget problems, [but] we [were] running out of money on the set and stuff, and I just wanted the people to see the film. I knew we were doing something special and good, but I had no idea, absolutely no idea, that it would become this iconic franchise.
