March 6, 2016

When you think of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series and more specifically Freddy Krueger, there’s one person that seems to be synonymous with his cinematic counterpart. And that’d be actor Robert Englund. To date, he’s played Freddy Krueger in 8 feature films and 2 seasons worth of the television series FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES. It’s hard to imagine anyone else in that role although eventually, someone will have to take up the mantel. After all, Freddy is immortal.

But would you believe Englund’s turn as Freddy was almost over following the original 1984 Wes Craven film?

You have to remember that when Wes Craven was shopping his unique dream horror movie around town, every single studio passed on it. It was Bob Shaye and the newly formed New Line Cinema that took the gamble with A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and it paid off big time. So with the success of the first movie, a sequel was imminent.

Shaye brought on director Jack Shoulder (THE HIDDEN) to helm the pic, but almost immediately in pre-production, there was an issue coming to an agreement to bring back Robert.

“There was a problem with Robert and Robert’s agent has started getting wise,” admitted Shaye in the documentary NEVER SLEEP AGAIN. “They were asking for all kinds of money we didn’t have & we were certainly in a dither of what to do.”

Frustrated, Shaye finally said aloud “why do we need Robert Englund? Freddy is just a guy in a rubber mask.” And with that, they actually started production on A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE with an extra in a rubber mask.

There’s only one brief scene in the final film with the faux Freddy and it’s when Jesse emerges as Freddy in the shower before he murders Coach Schneider (Marshall Bell). Despite only lasting a mere few seconds, if you know to look, it’s very obviously not Robert Englund.

“(New Line) didn’t even know that Freddy was the franchise,” lamented director Shoulder. “And (the extra) was just atrocious. He would walk like a dime-store monster. He would sort of hunker around. He was just terrible.”

Production manager Rachel Talalay, who would eventually go on to direct FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE said, “It really proved to everyone that it’s NOT just a guy in a rubber mask.”

“I was already feeling ownership of Freddy by then,” confesses Englund. “But Jack was the one who said ‘You’re a fool if you use anybody else besides Robert.’ By him saying that early on to Bob Shaye, I think that kind of helped me.” And of course, Englund was back in a heartbeat as the role he was destined to play.

The identity of the other actor that portrayed Freddy Krueger in that one scene has never been revealed. And I tried to find a good production still of this alternate Freddy to no success. However, when you currently look up the movie on Netflix Instant, a production still of this extra clearly wearing a Freddy mask is the main movie page thumbnail. Have a peek:

Who knows what would’ve become of the NIGHTMARE franchise had Englund not returned?

But thankfully everything worked out exactly how it was supposed to, and the rest… as they say… is history.