Haley on Krueger

For those who attended the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET panel, got the teaser poster for the film. We shared this with you, as well as an image of Freddy dragging a finger along a chalkboard. *shakes*

During an interview for his show HUMAN TARGET, Jackie Earl Haley talked a bit about Krueger, “He’s got a new look going. We’re still true with the fedora, the sweater and the glove, but the mug is a little bit more based in reality.”

When first hearing about Haley playing my second favorite horror villian, I had never thought of casting him, but after seeing him play Rorschach I have no doubts. I was devastated like some though, when I heard that Robert Englund was being replaced, but they had a different vision, “Our approach was to make him a little more serious. He’s a little less jokey.”

That was my favorite part! But sometimes you’ve gotta go with a change, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As an actor, I’m one that’s willing to take risks. Especially as a character actor, I’ve got to be willing to go out and totally mess up. If I try to play it safe, I’m not going to be a very good actor. I would imagine, somewhere along the way—and hopefully it’s not this—but even with characterizations and stuff, playing it safe is not what makes us interesting. It’s getting in there and really trying to do something with something and hope for the best.”

Even though Englund’s character portrayal has a huge fan base, Haley was happy to do it, “Oh, man, I did need to think about it for [but] a minute and a half. I just kept going, ‘Freddy Krueger?’ It’s such an iconic character. How could I not do that character?”

The story will offer us more insight into Freddy’s background, as well as Haley returning for sequels, “I think we get a little bit more than in the original film. I’ve signed on to do a couple more, but it needs to be successful before they do that.” My thoughts exactly.