Hellraiser reboot: Doug Bradley is fully supportive of Jamie Clayton’s casting as Pinhead

The teaser, embedded above, for the Hellraiser reboot gave us a glimpse of Jamie Clayton (Sense8)  as Pinhead, and yesterday we got the first actual picture of Clayton’s Pinhead. Fans have been sharing their opinions on this take on the character… but what does the original Pinhead, Doug Bradley, think about Clayton stepping into the role that made him a genre icon? Our friends at Bloody Disgusting shared what Bradley had to say about the casting while he was making an appearance at the Silver Scream Con in Massachusetts:

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.”

When Clayton happily shared the link to Bradley’s quote on Twitter, he responded that “Contrary to any rumors, I am fully supportive of your casting and looking forward to your performance!”

Bradley played Pinhead in the first eight Hellraiser movies. Then he passed the role over to Stephan Smith Collins and Paul T. Taylor for the other two sequels.

The Ritual and The Night House director David Bruckner is at the helm of the Hellraiser reboot, which was scripted by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (Super Dark Times), working from a story by producer David S. Goyer. Inspired by Clive Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart, the film has the following synopsis:

A young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension.

Clayton is joined in the cast of the new Hellraiser by Odessa A’zion (Let’s Scare Julie), Goran Visnjic (The Boys), Adam Faison (Everything’s Gonna Be Okay), Drew Starkey (Outer Banks), Brandon Flynn (13 Reasons Why), Aoife Hinds (Anne Boleyn), Jason Liles (Stereoscope), Yinka Olorunnife (The Transporter), Selina Lo (Boss Level), Zachary Hing (Halo), Kit Clarke (Leonardo), Hiam Abbass (Blade Runner 2049), and professional football/soccer player Vukašin Jovanović. Jovanović is playing a new Cenobite called The Masque, and Bradley says there’s a version of the classic Cenobite Chatterer in there as well.

A Hulu Original, in association with Spyglass Media Group, the film was produced by Goyer, Barker, Keith Levine, and Marc Toberoff. Gary Barber, Peter Oillataguerre, and Todd Williams serve as executive producers, with Chris Stone and Gracie Wheelan co-producing.

Are you glad to hear Doug Bradley supports the casting of Jamie Clayton as Pinhead? Let us know by leaving a comment below.