Why Robert Englund wants Kevin Bacon to play Freddy Krueger

Horror icon Robert Englund has revealed why he’s done playing Freddy Krueger, and also said who he’d like to see play the Nightmare on Elm Street villain in the future.

Robert Englund first played Freddy Krueger in 1984’s Nightmare on Elm Street, and immediately haunted the dreams of horror fans all over the world.

He reprised the role in multiple sequels, a TV series, adverts, music videos, and more, before Jackie Earle Haley donned the glove, fedora, and striped jumper for a poorly received remake in 2010.

Now Englund is looking back on his career in a new documentary, during which he speculates about the future of the character. One that won’t involve him, but he hopes features Kevin Bacon.

Why Robert Englund wants Kevin Bacon to play Freddy Krueger

While speaking in biographical doc Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story – as reported by Variety – the actor says of Krueger: “I’m too old and thick to play Freddy now. I just can’t do fight scenes for more than one take anymore, I’ve got a bad neck and bad back and arthritis in my right wrist. So I have to hang it up, but I would love to cameo.”

Of Haley’s turn, he believes that making Freddy a child molester rather than a child murderer is what tanked the remake. “That’s not what Freddy is, I don’t think,” Englund explains. “By taking it to such a dark, dark place, there’s no room for the personality of Freddy to be exploited.”

But as for who should play the character in the future, Englund likes the idea of Kevin Bacon. “I know he respects the genre, and he’s such a fine physical actor. I think that in the silences and in the way Kevin moves, it would be interesting.”

That isn’t beyond the realms of possibility, as Kevin Bacon is no stranger to the horror genre, having starred in the original Friday the 13th, before appearing in the likes of Tremors, Flatliners, Stir of Echos, and Hollow Man.

A Nightmare on Influencer Street

In the same documentary, Robert Englund states that any new Nightmare on Elm Street movie should tackle social media to give the franchise a modern spin.

“You’d have to deal with technology and culture,” he explains. “For instance, if one of the girls was an influencer, it would be interesting for Freddy to somehow haunt her subconscious and manifest himself – perhaps exploit everybody that followed her.”

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