Robert Englund says his “Strange Things” character was created more for “Treasure Island” than “A Nightmare on Elm Street”.

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for Stranger Things 4, Volume 1.]

For Robert Englund, be a part Weird stuff It was itchy, just a deep scratch.

The Legend of the Living Horror, which revived supernatural serial killer Freddie Krueger in Eight Nightmare on elm street Movies (and countless television appearances) know what it takes to scare the viewer.

And that’s exactly what he got. Weird stuff 4, Volume 1, as Victor Creeley, an institutionalized resident of Hawkins accused of brutally murdering his family decades before the season’s conspiracy. Krill, who blinded himself with a razor, accused the demon of having killed the family. It is later revealed that Victor’s son Henry had killed his mother and sister with his psychic powers and subsequently became Subject 001 (Jamie Campbell Bauer), who was later sent to the Upside Down at eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). ), where he becomes the villain. of this season. I have.

in an interview the hollywood reporterThe actor talked about how he landed the lead role in the series and his intriguing inspiration for Victor. In the conversation below, Englund also shared his views on the obvious. cloth street However, the show has seemed a little blurry in recent episodes;

Before I touch anything, I must say that my mom is still crazy about you and my dad. he let me look Nightmare on elm street With him, when I was a kid in the late 80s, I had nightmares for two weeks.

(laughs.) You know, I owe at least half of my career to cool parents and cool stepdads who left the movies or rented weekends at family video stores.

Funny! So, diving in, this season reminded me of Krill’s father-son story. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare Let’s take a look at the history of the monster family. What was your approach to Victor?

I was very relieved to learn that Barry Gower and Duncan Jarman are Game of thrones, The guys who created King of the Night were doing my makeup. I did a makeup test with them earlier in London. So I knew what the makeup would look like when I was doing a dialogue. Obviously, I couldn’t see because of the makeup, so I didn’t have to go blind. And because he had been locked in this cell for so long, he knew that a blind man had heard his way there. He knew where his bed was, where the blinds and table and chair would be. I didn’t need to expend energy thinking about putting on makeup or playing blind.

As actors, we create strange images. Sometimes we use images that have nothing to do with what we do. And one of the things I used to do was character treasure island Called Billy Bons, who tells Jim Hawkins a great story about Long John Silver. He also had nothing to do with Freddie Krueger. Nightmare. It was just one of those rare images that came to you.

My only concern was knowing that they were spending a lot of money to make that reaction, in the story of the story I’m telling about the house where the Wings lived, which was resting. And I knew they would escape me when I said very emotional parts. And I wanted that emotion to leak out in parts, so they used my dialogue. This was not done in the post. I didn’t want to sound like I was doing post-production late at night with a deep jazz disco joke sound.

Scratched fingernails on the table gave me a blush Nightmare Fanatic. Was it a wonderful shake and gave a tone that developed perfectly? Was that your idea?

I wish it was me because everyone loves it and it worked really well, but it was [episode director] Sean Levy, who invented this. I don’t know if I had thought of the place before. We think it’s a wonderful thing because he says that Victor is threatening, he says he’s bored and he also has a little Nightmare on elm street Echo [Levy spoke about the nod with THR here.]

Why do you think Victor went blind? I’ve seen various reasons posted by fans, from a bizarre suicide attempt, to saving yourself from a vision of the future that could kill you terribly.

I think it’s classical mythology. Oedipus is blinded when he realizes he is sleeping with his mother. And that sounds a little academic, but maybe Victor knows deep down that Henry is the source of evil. And because Victor loves Henry so much, he loves his boyfriend, he’s allowed himself to be embarrassed, so he blinds himself.

How did you come to be a part of this season? The idea of ​​your being Weird stuff It looks like such an obvious dunk.

I was a fan and then in season three I did a part that I didn’t get, I was disappointed. I really wanted to be on the show. So they called me Victor Krill. I sent a small home audit recording made by my wife. I saw him as a strangely understanding man, but also terribly because he was blind and had those horrible scars. But he has this damaged story to tell.

Finally, did you meet Jamie Campbell Bauer or Rafael Lucy, who played versions of Victor’s son?

I saw pictures of those guys and I had pictures in my mind but I couldn’t find them. I realized that Henry was the author of all that was to come; I guessed it myself. I’m so proud of myself because they don’t give you the whole script. And man, you gotta keep your mouth shut. (laughs.) I went to Congress recently and I have no right to talk about it, no spoilers, but some of the kids in Congress already knew! And I don’t know how! I think I answered a question about being blind, and I got a call from Netflix and they scolded me for making a spoiler. (laughs.) I didn’t want to either! The fans on the show were really ahead of me in their knowledge of the story, but how careful you have to be.

The interview is edited for length and clarity.

Stranger Things 4, Volume 1 Stream now on Netflix.