Robert Englund says he's "too old" to play Freddy Krueger again

14 years after he last appeared as notorious ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ antagonist Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund has confirmed he won’t play his signature role again.

In an Entertainment Weekly retrospective on 2003’s ‘Freddy vs Jason,’ Englund says, “I’m too old to do another Freddy now.”

Englund’s final performance as Freddy in director Ronny Yu’s ‘Friday the 13th’ crossover movie was a very energetic production, which the now 70-year old actor says would be beyond him today.

“If I do a fight scene now it’s got to be real minimal because I can’t snap my head for eight different takes and different angles. My spine gets sore. I can still be mean and scary, but I’m mostly relegated now to sort of Van Helsing roles, old doctors and s***.”

Englund was 37 when he was cast, against type at the time, as the evil, hideously scarred Freddy, a serial killer who stalks teenagers in their dreams, in the late Wes Craven’s 1984 hit ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street.’

With his burned skin, striped sweater, dirty fedora and blade-adorned glove – not to mention Englund’s knack for delivering nasty wisecracks – Freddy became an instant horror icon. Englund reprised the role in five direct sequels, followed by Craven’s semi-reboot ‘New Nightmare’ in 1994, then finally 2003’s ‘Freddy Vs Jason.’

He also played the role on TV series ‘Freddy’s Nightmares,’ and performed a rap on The Fat Boys’ hit single ‘Are You Ready For Freddy.’

Englund reflects, “I had a good run, I had a good time. And no one plans for this in your career. When I was wearing tights and doing Shakespeare, I didn’t say I wanted to be famous for playing this boogeyman…

“People just don’t know. And when you’ve survived as long as I have and you see that, you can be real happy that you got 20 years as Freddy Krueger, you know?”

Freddy Krueger last appeared on the big screen in 2010’s ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ remake, which cast Jackie Earle Haley in the role. The film was a modest box office success, but was widely despised by fans and critics.

New Line Cinema are believed to have a further reboot of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ in the works, but nothing has been heard on the subject for some time.

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