A Nightmare on Elm Street: Devon Sawa Offers to Take Over as Freddy Krueger

Horror icon and A Nightmare on Elm Street star Robert Englund is ready to permanently hang up his bladed gloves and admit he will no longer be Freddy Krueger. Doing interviews in support of Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, Englund has been answering that question over and over again this week, and of course, it begs another question: who would take over for him? The iconic role was  Englund’s for decades, and a previous attempt to remake the film with Jackie Earle Haley in the role was dead on arrival.

Actor Devon Sawa has an idea: let him do it. The Casper and Gasoline Alley star certainly understands the weight of a role like this, but says he would do it if asked.

“I’d love to follow in his footsteps and play [Freddy],” Sawa tweeted in response to one of the many articles (here’s ours!) talking with Englund about the future of Freddy.

Sawa, a horror icon for his role in the Final Destination franchise, recently helped revitalize Child’s Play with his fan-favorite turn in Chucky. He has also done horror with a bit of shtick attached — something Englund became famous for — in both Chucky and Idle Hands.

“All people know about Freddy Krueger is that he’s disfigured from burns. He wears a hat. He has a red-and-green sweater on and a claw. That’s all they know. They don’t really call it a fedora, I don’t think. They don’t go into great description of the claw, the glove, or the sweater, other than maybe the stripes,” Englund told ComicBook.com’s Patrick Cavanaugh. “So the sweater could be a cardigan. The hat could be an old frayed baseball hat. The claws could have huge blades on them like Wolverine or little tiny sharp nails on them. It could be leather fetish. It could be S&M bondage-ish. We don’t know. Freddy could be taller. Freddy could be older. Freddy could be younger. Freddy could be shorter. Freddy could be fat.” 

In Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, “A classically trained actor and director, Robert Englund has become one of the most revolutionary horror icons of our generation. Throughout his career, Englund starred in many well-known movies, but shot to super-stardom with his portrayal of supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. This unique and intimate portrait captures the man behind the glove and features interviews with Englund and his wife Nancy, Lin Shaye, Eli Roth, Tony Todd, Heather Langenkamp, and more.”

Stay tuned for updates on the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story hits Screambox and Digital HD on June 6th.