Freddy Krueger Praises Billy Bob

Rumors have been debunked that Billy Bob Thornton was set to slip on Freddy Krueger's razor gloves in a proposed remake of Nightmare on Elm Street, but least one person thinks it wasn't such a bad idea: Robert Englund, the original Freddy himself.

"Yeah, I think it's a great idea for Freddy," Englund said in an interview. "If they use Billy Bob, he will reinterpret the character, and that's what you want. You don't want somebody just copying me. I'm very physical. Billy Bob's not a physical actor. He's a sound actor and an internal actor. I think it will be very different."

Friday the 13th producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller are trying to set up the remake of Englund's classic supernatural thriller.

As for Englund himself? Fuller and Form have mentioned that they would love for him to make a cameo in the remake, and Englund said that he'd be up for it.

"I'd love to play the dream professor," Englund said of the role originally played by Charles Fleischer (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) in the 1984 Elm Street.

For his part, Englund has appeared in several small genre films in recent years. "The uncanny common denominator [in my recent work] is that they were all first-time directors," he said. "I did 2001 Maniacs and I did Hatchet with Adam Green, and I did Behind the Mask for Scott Glosserman, and I ran off and worked for my old pal Bob Keen up in Canada and did Heartstopper. And then I came back and did Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer and then Zombie Strippers. They're all first-time directors."

Englund said that the films reflect a nostalgia for horror movies of the late '70s and early '80s, "kind of practical special-effects horror," he said. "I'm trying to think, 'What's been missing?' I think there's a younger generation now that's missing the fun that we used to have."

In the Evil Dead-esque Jack Brooks, which hits screens in limited release Aug. 15, Englund plays the clumsy Professor Crowley, who the filmmakers described as an homage to Back to the Future's Doc Brown. Englund says it was Jon Knautz's short film, Still Life, that convinced him to do Jack Brooks. "It was like somebody had sent me the missing lost classic episode of Twilight Zone," he said. "It was this perfect black-and-white short film. I called up my agent and said, 'I gotta work for these guys.' They really know their [stuff]."

Brooks was also an opportunity for Englund to explore a different kind of character than he's usually offered. "I knew I was going to be mutating into this Jabba-the-Hutt-meets-Ghostbusters creature, and I was sort of the bridge," he said. "So I got to do a little bit of my Nutty Professor physical comedy stuff." --Jeff Otto

I can't wait to see how Freddy will look in this remake. I just hope it won't be cheesy. I saw the remake of Halloween (Rob Zombies') last night and I'm wishing the remake of that and Friday the 13th will be at least something like that. *crosses fingers*

I like how after posting this article Bumblemus started screaming about how BBT was playing Freddy.

what a maroon!

In other news, I'll be a millionaire soon because this one time I said "I wish I had a million dollars."

Peter Gibbons: What would you do if you had a million dollars?
Lawrence: I'll tell you what I'd do, man: two chicks at the same time, man.
Peter: That's it? If you had a million dollars, you'd do two chicks at the same time?
Lawrence: Damn straight. I always wanted to do that, man. And I think if I were a millionaire I could hook that up, too; 'cause chicks dig dudes with money.
Peter: Well, not all chicks.
Lawrence: Well, the type of chicks that'd double up on a dude like me do.
Peter: Good point.
Lawrence: Well, what about you now? what would you do?
Peter: Besides two chicks at the same time?
Lawrence: Well, yeah.
Peter: Nothing.
Lawrence: Nothing, huh?
Peter: I would relax... I would sit on my ass all day... I would do nothing.
Lawrence: Well, you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do shot.

To me, Robert Englund will always be the friendly alien from V.

To me, he'll always be the guy who looks like Queen's bass player...