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movie news
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Thu. 10 29. 2009 6:52 AM EDT
'Nightmare On Elm Street' New Freddy Krueger Thanks Fans For Casting
'The first I heard about it was people were suggesting me on the Internet for the part,' Jackie Earle Haley says.
by
Larry Carroll, with reporting by Vanessa White Wolf
Jackie Earle Haley
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For decades, Hollywood cast the person they thought would bring in the most money for a movie role, often resulting in some odd choices (Vince Vaughn in "Psycho," Kevin Costner in "Robin Hood," Keanu Reeves in virtually everything) that were largely
rejected by audiences. But now, it's the 21st century, and the Internet has made film more of a conversation than a monologue. From Michael Chiklis as The Thing in "Fantastic Four" to Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool in "Wolverine," several high-profile castings of the last few years have begun online — and Jackie Earle Haley couldn't be happier.
"The first I heard about it was people were suggesting me on the Internet for the part of Freddy. And I thought that was pretty cool," remembered Haley recently, speaking to MTV about his upcoming "Nightmare on Elm Street" reboot while wearing the iconic red-and-green sweater. "I wasn't sure who they had talked to, or what was going on."
The fact is, the filmmakers behind such recent remakes as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Friday the 13th" had read online that horror fans knew it was unlikely Robert Englund could continue playing the cackling killer much longer, and began speculating on who'd be an ideal fit for the character's razor-sharp glove. Talk quickly turned to Haley, the 48-year-old former child star who'd recently launched a major comeback and was then about to star in "Watchmen." Following his Oscar-nominated turn as a conflicted pedophile attempting to live a normal life in "Little Children," fans had seen a link to Freddy's history as a child killer murdered by angry parents who haunts the dreams of future generations of children as revenge.
Once they read the online buzz, the producers agreed that the fit was perfect, never even auditioning a second actor. "I didn't know that," Haley grinned. "It was pretty exciting. I found out my agents were already talking to [Platinum Dunes producer] Brad [Fuller] and stuff, and it had already started. It was pretty exciting."
Now, online buzz is building once again for Haley to play the evil Sinestro, appropriately enough, in Ryan Reynolds' "Green Lantern" film. But Haley is simply happy to look forward to unveiling himself as Freddy next April — and concentrating on how to reinvent the character while maintaining what fans have loved about "Nightmare" films for a quarter-century.
"It's definitely stepping into some big shoes. Robert Englund has done a fantastic job of making Freddy the iconic character that he is," Haley said of his plan. "And all these years later, the idea is to pay homage to that first film, and to re-envision it.
"I think where [director] Sam [Bayer] is coming from is a darker, more serious place," Haley promised of the April 30, 2010, film that will hope to terrorize a new generation of teens. "It's still fun, but I think it's going to be a little darker, and a little more serious."
This report is from MTV News.
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