A longtime fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, “The Goldbergs” creator Adam F. Goldberg recently explained how he got Robert Englund to reprise the iconic role of Freddy Krueger for this week’s Halloween special, and Englund himself just offered up some thoughts on the whole thing in a chat with the New York Post.
Englund has been saying for years now that he’ll never be playing Freddy Krueger on screen again, but Goldberg convinced him to change his mind and make the fans happy.
“I’ve been very protective of the character for years … I said no to [series creator] Adam [Goldberg],” Englund told the site. “And then he sent me probably the most beautiful fan letter I ever received, telling me how much A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors meant to him. And then I started thinking about my fans, how it dovetails with the ’80s experience and this sort of retro memory play that The Goldbergs is about.”
Englund continued, “Freddy’s been absorbed by popular culture. There’s Hello Kitty decals now. He’s been on The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Rick and Morty. He’s in comic books. He’s everywhere with action figures and dolls and stuff, late-night talk show punch lines. It’s like Frankenstein now: he’s just a by-word, a logo for the memory of an experience. So I was able to kind of make peace.”
In the Halloween episode, titled “Mister Knifey-Hands”…
“Despite Beverly’s wishes, Jackie’s parents allow Adam to watch A Nightmare on Elm Street and a disagreement between the families ensues. But Beverly dreams of facing off with horror icon Freddy Krueger (guest star Robert Englund), which teaches her an important lesson about her son’s relationship with Jackie. Meanwhile, Erica realizes she’s not as popular as she once was as she starts hanging out at William Penn Academy despite the fact she’s no longer a student there.”
Freddy slashes up “The Goldbergs” on Wednesday, October 24.