Hulu recently announced the official premiere date for the highly-anticipated Hellraiser reboot, which will be hitting the streamer on October 7.
There's quite a bit of excitement for the horror revival, but the fact that head Cenobite Pinhead is being played by a woman has been the main topic of discussion.
Doug Bradley, who played the Hell Priest in Clive Barker's original movie, was asked how he feels about Jamie Clayton taking over his iconic role during an appearance at Silver Scream Con in Massachusetts over the weekend (via Bloody Disgusting).
“It seemed like [a female Pinhead] was coming. It’s an interesting piece of casting,” said the actor. “I don’t know Jamie. Of course, they’ve taken even a little bit of a wrinkle in that, because Jamie is transgender. I’m not familiar with her recent work, but there was a science fiction series on Netflix several years ago called Sense8, which I was quite a fan of. Jamie was in that, and I really, really liked her performance in that.”
“I really can’t say more than that. I do like to point out that I did wear a skirt as Pinhead,” he adds. “It’s an interesting casting decision. Well, that only goes so far. We say ‘female Pinhead’ like we know what that means, but there are a million shades of femininity. Where exactly are they going to go with that? Everything about Hell raiser has always been transgressive. Everything, always, from start to finish. It’s not a new idea in that sense, but I’m intrigued. I’m in the same position as all the rest of you, I guess, to see where that goes.”
We still haven't had a proper look at Clayton as Pinhead, but this recent teaser promo gave us a teasing glimpse, and it seems like they're sticking pretty close to the classic design.
Odessa A'Zion (CBS series Fam and Netflix's Grand Army) has also been confirmed for the lead role of Riley, and the supporting cast will consist of Brandon Flynn (13 Reasons Why, Ratched,) Goran Visnjic (The Boys, ER,) Drew Starkey (Outer Banks, Love, Simon,) Adam Faison (Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, Into the Dark), Aoife Hinds (Normal People, Anne Boleyn,) and Hiam Abbass (Blade Runner 2049, Succession).
Barker will produce alongside Marc Toberoff, David S. Goyer and Keith Levine. David Bruckner (The Night House, The Ritual) is directing from a screenplay by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (The Night House, Super Dark Times).
"Next year marks the 35th anniversary since 'Hellraiser' first haunted our dreams. It's only fitting to come full circle in collaborating with Clive, the original creator and master of visionary horror. We look forward to working with our partners at Hulu in bringing this unique take on the original to new audiences," Bruckner said in a statement last year. "It's been such an honor to have Clive onboard to help support and shepherd us through the incredible universe he created so long ago. Combined with a fearless and committed cast, including the amazing Jamie Clayton, who fully embodies the role as the Hell Priest, we're aiming to create a very special new chapter in the ‘Hellraiser’ legacy."
Barker's 1987 adaptation of his own novella introduced one of cinema's most recognizable and enduring movie monsters in Pinhead, the leader of a group of demonic beings known as Cenobites. The film went on to achieve cult status, spawning multiple inferior sequels, a short-lived TV series, comic books, and more.
Specific details on this new version are still under wraps, but Spyglass has described it as “loyal, yet evolved.” A separate HBO series is also in the works from Halloween (2018) director David Gordon Green.