Michael Myers, Chucky and Jason Voorhees.Photo:Fotos International/Getty, United Artists/Getty, New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
Fotos International/Getty, United Artists/Getty, New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
Horror movies are nothing without their mythical and frightening villains. From Jason Voorhees terrorizing all visitors of Camp Crystal Lake to Michael Myers persistently haunting the inhabitants of Haddonfield, Illinois, horror movies have relied on the silence and mystique of their main antagonists for decades.But who are the actors who make these figures so frighteningly iconic? Meet Nick Castle, Brad Dourif, Derek Mears and more actors who’ve played some of the most iconic movie villains.
Horror movies are nothing without their mythical and frightening villains. From Jason Voorhees terrorizing all visitors of Camp Crystal Lake to Michael Myers persistently haunting the inhabitants of Haddonfield, Illinois, horror movies have relied on the silence and mystique of their main antagonists for decades.
But who are the actors who make these figures so frighteningly iconic? Meet Nick Castle, Brad Dourif, Derek Mears and more actors who’ve played some of the most iconic movie villains.
01of 09Nick Castle as Michael MeyersNick Castle as Mike Myers.Fotos International/Getty, Priscilla Grant/Everett CollectionThough different actors have taken on the role of Michael Myers throughoutHalloween’s tenure, Nick Castle, now 76, was the original — and the last — actor to play the villain.Castle first appeared as the menacing Myers when the franchise launched in 1978. As different versions and spinoffs of the film followed, the actor stepped away but later came back when the series launched its final trilogy. He played the creepy figure inHalloween(2018), Halloween Kills(2021)andHalloween Ends(2022).
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Nick Castle as Michael Meyers
Nick Castle as Mike Myers.Fotos International/Getty, Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection
Fotos International/Getty, Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection
Though different actors have taken on the role of Michael Myers throughoutHalloween’s tenure, Nick Castle, now 76, was the original — and the last — actor to play the villain.
Castle first appeared as the menacing Myers when the franchise launched in 1978. As different versions and spinoffs of the film followed, the actor stepped away but later came back when the series launched its final trilogy. He played the creepy figure inHalloween(2018), Halloween Kills(2021)andHalloween Ends(2022).
02of 09Robert Englund as Freddy KruegerRobert Englund as Freddy Krueger.Alamy, London Entertainment / AlamyRobert Englund has been the subject of many nightmares since 1984. Unlike Castle, Englund — who originally played Freddy Krueger in theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise — was the only actor to take on the role, until Jackie Earle Haley took over in 2010’s remake of the original.According toVariety, fans decried the reboot without Englund as a “series low, and another chapter was never made.” And even though playing Krueger is a large part of his legacy, Englund told the publication he won’t be reprising the role again.“I’m too old and thick to play Freddy now,” the 76-year-old joked. “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.”He does, however, believe Kevin Bacon would be a great replacement, and told the outlet, “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.”
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Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger
Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger.Alamy, London Entertainment / Alamy
Alamy, London Entertainment / Alamy
Robert Englund has been the subject of many nightmares since 1984. Unlike Castle, Englund — who originally played Freddy Krueger in theA Nightmare on Elm Streetfranchise — was the only actor to take on the role, until Jackie Earle Haley took over in 2010’s remake of the original.
According toVariety, fans decried the reboot without Englund as a “series low, and another chapter was never made.” And even though playing Krueger is a large part of his legacy, Englund told the publication he won’t be reprising the role again.
“I’m too old and thick to play Freddy now,” the 76-year-old joked. “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.”
He does, however, believe Kevin Bacon would be a great replacement, and told the outlet, “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.”
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Brad Dourif as Chucky
Brad Dourif as Chucky.United Artists/Getty, Ilya S. Savenok/Getty
United Artists/Getty, Ilya S. Savenok/Getty
Dourif seems to have truly found his calling within the horror genre. The 73-year-old actor appeared as Sheriff Lee Brackett inHalloween(2007)andHalloween II(2009), played The Gemini Killer inThe Exorcistand he also played serial killer Adam Rain on an episode ofCriminal Minds.
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Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise
Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise.New Line Cinema/Entertainment Pictures, DPA picture alliance / Alamy
New Line Cinema/Entertainment Pictures, DPA picture alliance / Alamy
Not only did Bill don Pennywise’s big clown shoes, but he also told Conan O’Brien that the killer clown’s signature creepy expression was a bit he’d banked since childhood.
“My older brother Gustaf, who’s an actor as well, had this ability to point his lip in a very strange way,” the 33-year-old explained. “For some reason — I don’t know how — I understood that I could do it as well,” he continued beforedemonstrating the freaky face to the camera. “So I came up with this character named Jürgen and I would pull my T-shirt over my head to [isolate my face] … and I would chase my little brother and scare him.”
05of 09Roger L. Jackson as GhostfaceJeff Jackson as Ghostface.Maximum Film/Alamy, Allstar Picture Library Ltd/AlamyHold your pearls because this fun fact is a doozy: Roger L. Jackson, who voices the serial killer Ghostface in theScreamfranchise, is also the same person who voices Mojo Jojo in the children’s cartoon,The Powerpuff Girls.Though the serial killer in each installment ofScreamis always revealed to be a different person, the phone voice has remained consistent since Jackson, now 65, took on the job back in 1996.Also on his impressive résumé of voice acting are credits in video games such asStar Trek,The Lion King: Simba’s Mighty Adventure,The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Furryand many others.
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Roger L. Jackson as Ghostface
Jeff Jackson as Ghostface.Maximum Film/Alamy, Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy
Maximum Film/Alamy, Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy
Hold your pearls because this fun fact is a doozy: Roger L. Jackson, who voices the serial killer Ghostface in theScreamfranchise, is also the same person who voices Mojo Jojo in the children’s cartoon,The Powerpuff Girls.
Though the serial killer in each installment ofScreamis always revealed to be a different person, the phone voice has remained consistent since Jackson, now 65, took on the job back in 1996.
Also on his impressive résumé of voice acting are credits in video games such asStar Trek,The Lion King: Simba’s Mighty Adventure,The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Furryand many others.
06of 09Derek Mears as Jason VoorheesDerek Mears as Jason Voorhees.New Line Cinema/Everett Collection, Jason LaVeris/FilmMagicAri Lehman, Warrington Gillette and Ken Kirzinger were some of the actors who played the menacing figure of Jason Voorhees before the machete was passed on to Derek Mears in the 2009 version ofFriday the 13th.And the role was perfectly fitting: a trained stunt actor, Mears, now 51, played the Classic Predator in 2010’sPredator,a “thug” inMr. and Mrs. Smithand the titular character in DC Universe’sSwamp Thing,among other roles.
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Derek Mears as Jason Voorhees
Derek Mears as Jason Voorhees.New Line Cinema/Everett Collection, Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
New Line Cinema/Everett Collection, Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Ari Lehman, Warrington Gillette and Ken Kirzinger were some of the actors who played the menacing figure of Jason Voorhees before the machete was passed on to Derek Mears in the 2009 version ofFriday the 13th.
And the role was perfectly fitting: a trained stunt actor, Mears, now 51, played the Classic Predator in 2010’sPredator,a “thug” inMr. and Mrs. Smithand the titular character in DC Universe’sSwamp Thing,among other roles.
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Mark Burnham as Leatherface
Mark Burnham as Leatherface.Netflix/Everett Collection, Nicolas Briquet/ABACAPRESS.COM
Netflix/Everett Collection, Nicolas Briquet/ABACAPRESS.COM
Gunnar Hansen and Dan Yeager took turns playing him in 2013’sTexas Chainsaw 3Dbefore Mark Burnham took over in the modernized reboot in 2022.
Though he otherwise lays low these days, Burnham, 47, hasWrong Cops, SnowfallandBuffy the Vampire Slayerin his list of credits.
08of 09Jamie Clayton as PinheadJamie Clayton as Pinhead.Hulu;Jon Kopaloff/GettyJamie Clayton followed in the footsteps of Doug Bradley, Stephen Smith Collins and Paul T. Taylor when she took on the role of Pinhead in theHellraiserfranchise in 2022.Though she revealed she wasn’t exactly a method actor, Clayton admitted she had to maintain some sort of distance from her colleagues on set.“I’m very used to walking on set and everybody being like, ‘Hi!’ and I’m like, ‘Hi!’ On this, now, I walk on set, and I’m really quiet, and I’m like, ‘Don’t you f—ing talk to me,’ " the 45-year-old toldEntertainment Weekly.“And I would stay in character while we were filming, while they were setting up different shots, moving the cameras around, fixing the set, doing the things. I had to stay in it because it’s a heavy place to go to, and so to go that deep, you can’t just come back when they’re resetting a shot and have a sip of Schweppes Bitter Lemon and then go back in. I had to just stay there.”
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Jamie Clayton as Pinhead
Jamie Clayton as Pinhead.Hulu;Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Hulu;Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Jamie Clayton followed in the footsteps of Doug Bradley, Stephen Smith Collins and Paul T. Taylor when she took on the role of Pinhead in theHellraiserfranchise in 2022.
Though she revealed she wasn’t exactly a method actor, Clayton admitted she had to maintain some sort of distance from her colleagues on set.
“I’m very used to walking on set and everybody being like, ‘Hi!’ and I’m like, ‘Hi!’ On this, now, I walk on set, and I’m really quiet, and I’m like, ‘Don’t you f—ing talk to me,’ " the 45-year-old toldEntertainment Weekly.
“And I would stay in character while we were filming, while they were setting up different shots, moving the cameras around, fixing the set, doing the things. I had to stay in it because it’s a heavy place to go to, and so to go that deep, you can’t just come back when they’re resetting a shot and have a sip of Schweppes Bitter Lemon and then go back in. I had to just stay there.”
09of 09Bonnie Morgan as Evil SamaraBonnie Morgan as Samara.Paramount Pictures /courtesy Everett Collection; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagicCreeping out of the well and putting everyone on notice was Bonnie Morgan, who played Samara in 2017’sRings,the last offering fromThe Ringfranchise.Still, that was hardly the first time Morgan dabbled in the horror-verse. Fans (and non-fans, really) of the franchise will also remember Morgan as the girl who delivered the terrifying spider crawl, as she chased Naomi Watts' character in 2005’sThe Ring Two.And the bubbly contortionist, 42, might have set a trend with those one-of-a-kind movements.“I’ve been told that I’m actually responsible for contortion zombies, contortion horror. Because you see it all over the place now, inThe Exorcism of Emily Roseand things like that, and a lot of people said, ‘You are responsible for that movement being in horror,’ " she toldDailyDead.com. “And I was like, ‘I am, really? Cool!’ I always thought it wasThe Exorcist, but I will totally take that credit.”
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Bonnie Morgan as Evil Samara
Bonnie Morgan as Samara.Paramount Pictures /courtesy Everett Collection; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Paramount Pictures /courtesy Everett Collection; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Creeping out of the well and putting everyone on notice was Bonnie Morgan, who played Samara in 2017’sRings,the last offering fromThe Ringfranchise.Still, that was hardly the first time Morgan dabbled in the horror-verse. Fans (and non-fans, really) of the franchise will also remember Morgan as the girl who delivered the terrifying spider crawl, as she chased Naomi Watts' character in 2005’sThe Ring Two.
And the bubbly contortionist, 42, might have set a trend with those one-of-a-kind movements.
“I’ve been told that I’m actually responsible for contortion zombies, contortion horror. Because you see it all over the place now, inThe Exorcism of Emily Roseand things like that, and a lot of people said, ‘You are responsible for that movement being in horror,’ " she toldDailyDead.com. “And I was like, ‘I am, really? Cool!’ I always thought it wasThe Exorcist, but I will totally take that credit.”
source: people.com
