The horror icon Robert Englund, who played the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ serial killer, Freddy Krueger, in eight films, has but argued that his advancing years mean that he is unable to return as the child killer who terrorised his victims through their dreams.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the release of the documentary, ‘Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story’, the 75-year-old actor said: “I’m too old and thick to play Freddy now. I just can’t do fight scenes for more than one take anymore, I’ve got a bad neck and bad back and arthritis in my right wrist. So I have to hang it up, but I would love to do a cameo.”
Robert tipped Kevin Bacon to play Freddy in a future ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ project as he has the physicality to take on the blade-fingered villain.
The actor said, quoted by Female First UK: “I know he respects the genre, and he’s such a fine physical actor. I think that in the silences and in the way Kevin moves – it would be interesting.”
Despite ruling out another appearance as Freddy, Robert does have ideas on how to bring the antagonist into the modern world.”
“You’d have to deal with technology and culture. For instance, if one of the girls was an influencer, it would be interesting to somehow haunt her subconscious and manifest himself, perhaps exploit everybody that followed her,” he added.
Freddy is one of the most popular horror villains in Hollywood history and Robert reflected on how appreciation for the genre has increased since he first played the part in 1984.