Stepping into the role of an established and iconic horror movie villain is something that can be terrifying for many actors, but for Hulu’s Hellraiser reboot star Jamie Clayton, it’s more than exciting. Originally, the legendary Pinhead character was played by Doug Bradley in the first Hellraiser along with most of its sequels. Clayton will be the first female actor to take on the role after previous films starring Stephan Smith Collins and Paul T. Taylor as Pinhead.
There’s a lot of excitement about this new reboot coming to Hulu next month. Although Clayton’s Pinhead is a physical departure from the version made famous by Bradley, many have long since Hellraiser fans appreciate that her incarnation is more like how the character is described in Clive Barker’s original novella. In a new interview for Jake’s TakenClayton spoke about what it felt like to be tasked with paying tribute to the original Pinhead while providing something unique to the character and the Hellraiser franchisee.
“What a thrill. I mean, what an absolute damn thrill. I wanted to do it my own way, and not in an over the top way, but it’s like a tribute, those Easter eggs for the fans. I mean, oh my god , what an absolute damn thrill.”
Recently, Bradley commented on the Hulu reboot at a fan convention. He’s not personally involved with the film and couldn’t say too much about it just yet, though he offered Clayton his blessings in the role based on her work in Sense8. Clayton also spoke about how wonderful it was for her to get that praise from Bradley.
“Recently he was asked at one of the conventions where he did a performance, and someone asked him about it. He’s actually a fan of a show I did called Sense8, and he gave me his blessing. So that was really nice for me. That was really sweet.”
Meanwhile, Clayton was also told that Bradley was dealing with people on set who wanted to touch the pins on his face. When asked if she had the same problem on the set of the reboot, Clayton revealed that it was the opposite experience for her as no one approached her this way.
“That’s so interesting. No, no one came near me. And if they did, hmmm… no, the only people who touched me were the makeup artists. I’m fascinated that that happened to him.”
Jamie Clayton is the new pinhead
David Bruckner directs the new Hell raiser. Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski wrote the script with a story they conceived with David S. Goyer. The film is inspired by the original novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker along with its feature film adaptation, the original Hellraiser. But the new movie is not a remake as it follows original characters with an entirely new storyline.
Hellraiser premieres on Hulu on October 7, 2022. You can watch the official trailer below.