Ah, good old Robert Englund. Despite playing one of the preeminent 80s slashers throughout the Nightmare on Elm Street series, the man himself seems like a lovable, if occasionally gruff, old gent. At Dragon Con in Atlanta over the weekend, Englund was asked about his odd Goldbergs cameo last year, where he reprised the dream demon Freddy Krueger for the Halloween episode, “Mister Knifey-Hands.”
Englund, after first saying that his agent would have dropped him if he’d refused the offer, went into a little more detail about his own personal wish fulfillment that he got after taking the role, saying the following:
“The real reason was I got to hang out with Wendi McLendon-[Covey] for a week. I loved her on Reno 911 and I loved her in Bridesmaids, and she is, genuinely, along with Kate McKinnon, she’s genuinely one of the three or four funniest women working on television today. It was just so fun working [with her]. I mean, I bit the inside of my mouth the first time she said, ‘It’s Mr. Knifey-Fingers!’”
Robert had also said in the past that the creator of the show, Adam F. Goldberg, wrote him a really nice email that explained the importance of 80s culture, and how fans of the series would really appreciate the appearance, which they did. Englund was happy with the gig, too, saying: “It’s fun that the last moment of me ever playing Freddy is a wink to the audience.”
It’s unfortunate that we’ll never get another full-fledged Freddy film with Englund under the make-up. At least, it doesn’t look like we will at this point. But we’re all just happy that he gave us some great Nightmare on Elm Street films over the years. Don’t worry Robert, you’ll get that star on the Walk of Fame before you know it. You definitely deserve one.
Tell us, though, did you enjoy the actor’s cameo in The Goldbergs last year? As always, share your thoughts with us down below in the comments section.