Nightmare on Elm Street Panel at Wondercon 2010
http://www.rarityguide.com/articles/articles/270/1/Nightmare-on-Elm-Street-Panel-at-Wondercon-2010/Page1.html
By Douglas Shepard (Editor in Chief, RarityGuide.com)
Published on 04/24/2010
An article detailing the panel that had the cast of the new Nightmare on Elm Street answering questions about the movie.
Nightmare on Elm Street Panel at Wondercon 2010
As this month comes to a close, an old burned face is making his way back into American Cinemas, Freddy Krueger. At Wondercon this year, they had the main cast show up to talk about the movie and their roles in it. Present were Thomas Decker, Jackie Harley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner and Katie Cassidy. As the producer or director could not show, they moved straight onto the questions and answers for the film after the cast explained a little about their roles.
First was for Jackie Harley about his experience learning the role of Freddy Krueger. He felt it was a scary process and a bit daunting because only one man, Robert Englund, has ever really played the role of Freddy. He still felt though that he could take advantage of this fresh start to handle Freddy is his own way. He felt was “a trip and an honor”. The rest only had a little to say on each other roles, explaining a bit about the character’s motivation or mind set. Rooney Mara who plays Nancy said that they were aiming for a darker, more lost soul feel for her character. Katie explained that her character, Chris, was working at piecing things back together having gone through a recent break up. Thomas Decker, who played Jessie, said that his character wanted to understand why they were all having these dreams.
The first question was if the cast had seen the original series and if they were letting it influence their performance in this version. Cassidy said that she did not want the original to influence her performance. Decker on the other hand admitted that he liked the series a lot.
The next few questions were for Harley, asking about his set up time and how he was playing the character and Freddy’s infamous Glove. Apparently it took a total of six hours to get everything ready for him. Five hours in make-up and an additional hour to get the rest of the costume ready. He said he aimed to have a bit of humor in the character when asked about it. Harley watched trailers for the series and watched the first “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie. He wanted to look at the tone of the movie and character. He wanted to do a good reprisal of the character but still make it his own version of Freddy. His research had him trying to figure out just what kind of person Freddy was. He started reading into Serial Killers to better understand something about that mindset. It was disturbing but it also did not quite fit with the role. One in particular caught his interest, Ed Kemper. He read into him a bit and found that there was a movie made about him. After watch it he realized much more what he was dealing with, a boogey man like those in camp fire stories. He also felt that he had mastered the Glove, as it took a notable amount of time to get it on his hand. Because of this, it would just be on his hand for the rest of the time he was on set that day.
Next the cast was asked about any injuries or challenging scenes in the movie. Cassidy cited a time where she had to crawl through a small tunnel. It was scary for her to do and she did get scraped up during it. They also alluded to a time when Harley accidently cut another of the cast members with the Glove.
Another question was how they all felt about the reboot process for the franchise and what they saw in the future for it. Decker felt it was a tricky subject. He felt they had a great cast and an intriguing conflict. He, personally, is not too keen on remakes but he has faith in this one. Both Mara and Cassidy wanted to make their roles their own. Gallner also wanted to make it his own, but also pay homage to the original. Harley felt the movie had found its way into American culture itself, much like the campfire stories many know and love.
With that, the panel came to a close. It was interesting to see a classic horror movie series coming back into the modern day. It is indeed a tough series to follow as Freddy Krueger is easily one of the most recognizable figures in the history of horror movie antagonist. Still, from the cast, there is definite confidence about the quality of the acting and performance. It will be something to see.
As this month comes to a close, an old burned face is making his way back into American Cinemas, Freddy Krueger. At Wondercon this year, they had the main cast show up to talk about the movie and their roles in it. Present were Thomas Decker, Jackie Harley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner and Katie Cassidy. As the producer or director could not show, they moved straight onto the questions and answers for the film after the cast explained a little about their roles.
First was for Jackie Harley about his experience learning the role of Freddy Krueger. He felt it was a scary process and a bit daunting because only one man, Robert Englund, has ever really played the role of Freddy. He still felt though that he could take advantage of this fresh start to handle Freddy is his own way. He felt was “a trip and an honor”. The rest only had a little to say on each other roles, explaining a bit about the character’s motivation or mind set. Rooney Mara who plays Nancy said that they were aiming for a darker, more lost soul feel for her character. Katie explained that her character, Chris, was working at piecing things back together having gone through a recent break up. Thomas Decker, who played Jessie, said that his character wanted to understand why they were all having these dreams.
The first question was if the cast had seen the original series and if they were letting it influence their performance in this version. Cassidy said that she did not want the original to influence her performance. Decker on the other hand admitted that he liked the series a lot.
The next few questions were for Harley, asking about his set up time and how he was playing the character and Freddy’s infamous Glove. Apparently it took a total of six hours to get everything ready for him. Five hours in make-up and an additional hour to get the rest of the costume ready. He said he aimed to have a bit of humor in the character when asked about it. Harley watched trailers for the series and watched the first “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie. He wanted to look at the tone of the movie and character. He wanted to do a good reprisal of the character but still make it his own version of Freddy. His research had him trying to figure out just what kind of person Freddy was. He started reading into Serial Killers to better understand something about that mindset. It was disturbing but it also did not quite fit with the role. One in particular caught his interest, Ed Kemper. He read into him a bit and found that there was a movie made about him. After watch it he realized much more what he was dealing with, a boogey man like those in camp fire stories. He also felt that he had mastered the Glove, as it took a notable amount of time to get it on his hand. Because of this, it would just be on his hand for the rest of the time he was on set that day.
Next the cast was asked about any injuries or challenging scenes in the movie. Cassidy cited a time where she had to crawl through a small tunnel. It was scary for her to do and she did get scraped up during it. They also alluded to a time when Harley accidently cut another of the cast members with the Glove.
Another question was how they all felt about the reboot process for the franchise and what they saw in the future for it. Decker felt it was a tricky subject. He felt they had a great cast and an intriguing conflict. He, personally, is not too keen on remakes but he has faith in this one. Both Mara and Cassidy wanted to make their roles their own. Gallner also wanted to make it his own, but also pay homage to the original. Harley felt the movie had found its way into American culture itself, much like the campfire stories many know and love.
With that, the panel came to a close. It was interesting to see a classic horror movie series coming back into the modern day. It is indeed a tough series to follow as Freddy Krueger is easily one of the most recognizable figures in the history of horror movie antagonist. Still, from the cast, there is definite confidence about the quality of the acting and performance. It will be something to see.