Doug Bradley Weighs In On Jamie Clayton Playing Pinhead In Hellraiser

Jamie Clayton is playing a new take on Pinhead in the upcoming Hellraiser reimagining, and Doug Bradley has given his take on the situation. Bradley is of course known as the actor under the makeup for Pinhead in the original films, and he spoke at Silver Scream Con in Massachusetts about the decision to cast Clayton in the role for David Bruckner‘s upcoming film.

“It seemed like [a female Pinhead] was coming. It’s an interesting piece of casting,” Bradley said (per Bloody Disgusting). “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.”

He went on to add, “I really can’t say more than that. I do like to point out that I did wear a skirt as Pinhead. 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 Hellraiser 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.”

Bradley also confirmed that the Chatterer Cenobite will be in the new film, saying, “I was at Monsterpalooza, a convention in Pasadena, a couple months ago, and I met the guy who’s playing the new Chatterer. He’s like 6’9″ and a beanpole, so they’re going in lots of different directions. It’s another interesting casting idea. Cenobites of all shapes and sizes!”

He concluded, “The thing that will make the movie work or not is none of that. It’s the story. If the story is strong, the movie will work. That’s why Hellraiser has succeeded; not because the Cenobites are gloriously fucked up and so is Julia, which they all are. All of those elements are magnificent in the film, and Chris Young’s score is one of the best ever written. All of that is true, but the story is what makes Hellraiser work, so we’ll see what happens.”

The first images from the film were released on Thursday, and show not only Clayon’s Pinhead but also a new Cenobite named The Masque. The film is set to release on Hulu on October 7th.