Robert Englund Reveals the Dream Role That Got Away

Horror icon Robert Englund is returning to the small screen as the host of the upcoming series True Terror with Robert Englund, which sees him embracing the spirit of The Twilight Zone‘s Rod Serling as he plays himself, narrating a number of unsettling tales ripped straight from historical headlines. While Englund continues to expand his legacy in a variety of ways and as new opportunities present themselves, the dream role that he regrets having missed out on might come as a surprise, as it’s the role of Iago in a live production of Othello, as he merely served as an understudy and never got to actually play the part on stage.

“My bucket list role, I did understudy it years ago, that’s why it’s on my bucket list,” Englund shared with ComicBook.com. “I got to understudy a role for Othello at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, this is just before Tom Hanks got there, I think. And there was a magnificent actor playing Othello, Roger Robinson. And I think he has Tony awards for an August Wilson play. Roger was wonderful. And I look back now and realize just how amazing his interpretation was and how strong a performance it was. But, I never got to do it with Roger. I got to rehearse it with him, I think once, and then I had to sit backstage every night in case the guy playing Iago got hurt, because that’s the role I wanted to do. And then, I could have probably played Iago until I was 60, but I’m truly too old now to play Iago.”

He added, “And it’s unfortunate because that was the one role I think I really had a fix on. I used to use it for my auditions in the theater and every time I auditioned with that part, I got the part. I auditioned with Iago from Othello, I got the role. So that’s a bit of a disappointment, that I never got to play that one.”

Despite never having gotten the chance to play the part alongside Robinson, Englund doesn’t dwell on the past, as every future role comes with the possibility of discovering unexpected joy.

“My favorite role is the next one I do because you never know when that’s going to be something as fulfilling as, for instance, the one I did called “The Last Showing’ a couple of years ago, which was just a little low-budget English film shot outside of London,” the actor pointed out. “I got to work with Finn Jones, who’s terrific in the movie and Emily Barrington from Humans. She plays one of the ‘Power to the Robots’ girls. Emily Barrington is a delightful actress, too. And the wonderful director Phil Hawkins. And I never would have guessed in a million years that that would have been a challenge and that I would have been so proud of that role, but I am. It’s that kind of surprise that actors get every time they get a role. I’ve got something coming up that I’m going to be shooting later this month. I’m not allowed to talk about it, but it also is very challenging, on a show that’s terribly, terribly popular. And I’m looking forward to the fan reaction to that as well.”

As we await Englund’s next character, we can check out the series premiere of True Terror with Robert Englund on the Travel Channel on Wednesday, March 18th at 10 p.m. ET.

Are you looking forward to the series? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!