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Doug Bradley is a British actor who rose to fame thanks to his role as the iconic white-faced demon Pinhead in the Hellraiser film series. So why is he ripping into the franchise's latest installment?
In a slam posted to his official Facebook page earlier this week, the actor badmouthed the project in no uncertain terms, claiming he walked away from reprising the demonic ghoul in Hellraiser; Judgment after being told he would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement (a standard document that threatens legal action if the signee publicly discloses details of the project) before the script could be sent to him.
“This was a three page document preventing me from talking about the script 'in restrooms', 'on elevators', 'in restaurants' or 'in cellular telephone conversations which may be overheard,'” Bradley wrote. “There was also dark reference to 'people talking out of turn at conventions'. I read this thing in disbelief, and informed Gary I would not be signing it.
“And that's that. Clearly, I am deemed too much of a security risk to be allowed to read a Hellraiser script. People are starving to death in Syria and they're worried about me talking about a Hellraiser movie? Get a fucking grip. Can you say 'sense of proportion'?”
In response, the film's director Gary Tunnicliffe — a highly-regarded special effects makeup artist who was done work on such films as Scream 4, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and seven Hellraiser sequels (!) — told Fangoria that he was “thrilled and excited” to work with Bradley but was let down by the actor's angry response to the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) request, which he called “very much common place now with production companies.”
“Doug wrote back to me…’I”m going to make myself liable for a million bucks I don”t have just to read a damn script?… I don”t think so,'” said Tunnicliffe. “I was stunned, after all it was my ‘damn” script and it let me know how he felt straight away. I wrote to him saying I was sorry he felt that way and the next day the search for a new Pinhead began.”
While declining to name the actor who will take on the famous role, Tunnicliffe teased that he's “a classically trained stage and film actor who brings a great physical presence and more than a hint of Peter Cushing and Ralph Fiennes.”
Bradley, who has portrayed Pinhead in a total of eight feature films, also sat out the widely-derided last installment Hellraiser: Revelations, which saw Stephan Smith Collins step into the role. The new film is reportedly already in production with a cast that includes A Nightmare on Elm Street star Heather Langenkamp. (Pinhead is your boyfriend now, Nancyyyy.)
(via Bloody Disgusting)