We have reached the 35th anniversary of the original Friday the 13th movie. After all this time, Jason Voorhees just won’t stay dead. While the original film didn’t necessarily create the slasher genre, Friday the 13th did give birth to a whole smattering of sequels. With the help of Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger, it also brought the horror film genre to the forefront of popular culture throughout the ’80s and ’90s.
All these years later, and Jason is still here. There’s a Friday the 13th TV series in the works, a new movie in development at Paramount, and he’s even a playable character in the new Mortal Kombat X video game. That being said, we felt it was only right to deliver a short rundown of the famous faces that have encountered Jason.
Without further ado, let’s catch up with 13 of the most notable actors who have appeared in the Friday the 13th film franchise…
Warning: spoilers ahead.
Kevin Bacon — Jack in Friday the 13th (1980)
Jack taught everyone a valuable lesson: If you want to get laid in a slasher movie, you’ll die a horrible death soon after, and it will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. According to a behind-the-scenes story that he shared with David Letterman, Bacon wasn’t too fond of the fake blood that he ingested.
Bacon has had a pretty strong career since appearing in Friday the 13th, thanks to his appearances in Footloose, Tremors, and Apollo 13. He most recently starred as Ryan Hardy on Fox’s serial killer series The Following.
Corey Feldman — Tommy Jarvis in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning
Corey Feldman moved from Friday the 13th to shoot Gremlins that same year, and then Goonies a year after. Feldman had a great career as a kid. As an adult? He’s become a bit eclectic, but that hasn’t stopped him for steadily working. Most recently, he voiced the character Slash on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, continuing his long affiliation with the heroes in a half shell.
Crispin Glover — Jimmy Mortimer in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Jimmy Mortimer was a weirdo, much like Crispin Glover is a weirdo. Mortimer and his friends took an innocent trip up to Camp Crystal Lake for some good clean fun, and… guess what happens next!
Glover is best known for his performance as George McFly in the Back to the Future franchise. He’s worked steadily in Hollywood over the last 30 years, most recently appearing in Hot Tub Time Machine and an episode of Drunk History. He’ll next appear as Mosley Baker in the History Channel’s Texas Rising mini-series.
Tony Goldwyn — Darren in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
The role of Darren in Jason Lives was Tony Goldwyn’s big acting break. Since appearing in the film, he has gone on to appear in many projects, including Ghost alongside Patrick Swayze, and most recently as President Grant in ABC’s Scandal.
Kane Hodder — Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, and Jason X
When Kane Hodder took on the role of Jason in the seventh installment of the Friday the 13th series, he ended up becoming synonymous with the iconic killer. Since hanging up the mask 14 years ago, Hodder has expanded his acting career by appearing in Adam Green’s Hatchet movies, the Fear Clinic TV series, and a number of other genre projects.
Kelly Hu — Eva Watanabe in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
Eva Watanabe was one of the Lakeview High School students who encountered Jason Voorhees when he relocated to the Big Apple.
Since appearing in Jason Takes Manhattan, Kelly Hu has built a pretty great resume. The actress recently appeared as China White in The CW’s Arrow, and her voice-over credits include the role of Karai in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, Stacy in Phineas and Ferb, and D’vorah/Sindel/Frost in Mortal Kombat X.
Steven Williams — Creighton Duke in Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
Creighton Duke is one of my favorite characters from the Friday the 13th franchise. Look at this man’s hat! Before seeing Steven Williams in this movie, I knew him as Captain Adam Fuller from the 21 Jump Street TV series.
Since his appearance beside Jason, Williams has appeared in a whole slew of projects, including the character of Rufus Turner in Supernatural, as well as an uncredited role as Commissioner Adam Fuller in 22 Jump Street.
Steven Culp — Robert Campbell in Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday
Robert Campbell was the unlucky schmuck who became possessed by Jason Voorhees in Jason Goes to Hell. Sure, his character meets a pretty messy demise but that didn’t halt Steven Culp’s acting career.
He recently appeared as Scudder in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Edward Truman in NBC’s short-lived post-apocalyptic series Revolution, Robert Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis drama Thirteen Days, and as D.A. Richard O’Shea in Amazon’s new original series Bosch.
David Cronenberg — Dr. Wimmer in Jason X
David Cronenberg played Dr. Wimmer in Jason X. Yes, Cronenberg sometimes likes to step out from behind the camera to appear in movies. He did so in Clive Barker’s Nightbreed as Dr. Philip K. Decker, as well. In fact, a good number of his on-screen appearances tend to be as evil doctors. Go figure.
In recent days, it seems the man has turned his attention back to directing what with movies like Eastern Promises, Cosmopolis, and Maps to the Stars.
Derek Mears — Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th (2009)
When Paramount remade Friday the 13th back in 2009, they brought in Derek Mears, a veteran stunt performer, to play Jason. Since appearing as Jason Voorhees in the remake, Derek played the Classic Predator in Predators, was Kickpuncher on Community, and most recently played Moloch in Fox’s Sleepy Hollow.
When he’s not playing monsters on-screen, Derek performs with his improv comedy troupe, The Resistance.
Ben Feldman — Richie in Friday the 13th (2009)
Richie should have known better to not head out to Camp Crystal Lake. Alas, most of these young people in Paramount’s 2009 remake just had no clue.
Since appearing in Friday the 13th, Ben Feldman has booked some pretty substantial TV work. He played Peggy’s crazy co-worker, Michael Ginsberg, on Mad Men, was Andrew Lofland in NBC’s short-lived series A to Z. He can currently be seen as Richard’s lawyer, Ron LaFlamme, in HBO’s Silicon Valley.
Danielle Panabaker — Jenna in Friday the 13th (2009)
Since her appearance in the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th, Danielle Panabaker has moved on in her acting career to play Juliette Pittman in USA’s Necessary Roughness, Penny in Justified, and, most recently, Caitlin Snow on CW’s hit series The Flash.
Jared Padalecki — Clay Miller in Friday the 13th (2009)
We see here Clay Miller being surprised by Jason Voorhees, who really just loves jumping through windows to say hello to his prospective victims. Clay didn’t die in the movie (spoiler?), but the ending left things up to speculation.
When Jared Padalecki starred in the Friday the 13th remake, he had a few seasons playing Sam Winchester on Supernatural under his belt. He has now completed 10 seasons of The CW show, and it doesn’t look like it’ll be stopping anytime soon.
