Doug Bradley, who played Pinhead in the original Hellraiser movies, weighs in on Hulu's upcoming gender-swapped reboot starring Jamie Clayton. Written and directed by Clive Barker and released in 1987, Hellraiser starred Bradley as the leader of the extradimensional demonic beings known as Cenobites, later identified in sequels as Pinhead. Bradley reprised the role in seven sequels, his last portrayal coming in 2005's Hellraiser: Hellworld. Other actors who have played Pinhead include Stephan Smith Collins and Paul T. Taylor.
The latest reimagining of Hellraiser is from The Ritual director David Bruckner who reteams with The Night House writers Luke Piotrowski and Ben Collins. With Barker serving as a producer, the Hellraiser reboot is said to be a faithful adaptation of its source material, Barker's own 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart. Other than Odessa A'zion, Brandon Flynn, Goran Višnjić, Drew Starkey, Adam Faison, Aoife Hinds, Selina Lo, and Hiam Abbass, the Hellraiser reboot stars Sense8's Jamie Clayton as a female Pinhead.
During a recent appearance at Silver Scream Con, Bradley shared his thoughts on the gender-swapped Hellraiser reboot (via Bloody Disgusting). The original Pinhead actor called it "an interesting piece of casting" and mentioned that Clayton is transgender before praising the actor's work in The Wachowski's Sense8 and expressing his excitement for a female Pinhead, pondering exactly what the reboot will do with that idea. Read his full comments below:
It seemed like [a female Pinhead] was coming. It’s an interesting piece of casting. 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. 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. 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! 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.
Overall, Bradley seems supportive of Hulu's new Hellraiser movie and is interested in the different direction the reboot is taking the franchise, which actually happens to be more faithful to the source material. In The Hellbound Heart, Cenobites are described as androgynous, and Pinhead is said to have a feminine-sounding voice, which was used as inspiration to cast Clayton as the character. When discussing the Hellraiser reboot's new Chatterer played by Jason Liles, Bradley says Cenobites come in all shapes and sizes.
Even more important than the Hellraiser reboot's Cenobite castings is its story, which Bradley cites as the primary reason the Hellraiser franchise has succeeded over the years. Bruckner and his collaborators seem to be taking the franchise in some exciting new directions with Clayton as the lead, but so far, much of its story remains a mystery. That should change when the first Hellraiser reboot trailer is released before it hits Hulu on October 7.
Source: Bloody Disgusting