Your new movie Krueger:
The Legend of Elm Street - in a few words, what is it about, and
what can you tell us about your character?
It is the fifth part of our Krueger: Tales from Elm Street series and
it focuses on on what happens to Freddy after he is released from police
custody. It shows what he goes through when he realizes he's lost his
family and that he's been outed as the Springwood Slasher. It also
includes the burning of Freddy! What did you
draw upon to bring Freddy
Krueger to life, and how much of Roberto Lombardi can we find in
him, honestly? Freddy is both a sadist and a masochist, so
I researched traits of those types. I also did a bit of research on
sociopaths and their mannerisms. There are some parts of me in there, not
many, mainly the emotional side that's shown in the films. Krueger:
The Legend of Elm Street isn't the first time you've played iconic
Freddy
Krueger - so how do you think the character and your performance
have evolved over the years? As in all of the Krueger
films, I've tried to bring something new to the character while still
making him familiar. For the first film in 2011, we were really going for
a homage that would fit in with how Robert Englund [Robert
Englund bio - click here] portrayed Freddy (like
the light hair color). I still made many parts of that performance my own,
but starting with the second film in 2013 I really made it my version of
Freddy. As the films evolved, I think the thing I brought most to Freddy
was giving him more depth of character along with a wider emotional range.
From what I know, for part
of Krueger:
The Legend of Elm Street, you had to undergo a daily one and a
half hours of makeup - so do talk about that process for a bit, and how
much of a strain was it to get your part across under all the makeup? The
makeup was a long process! It seemed like longer than two hours sitting in
that chair! I had worn a mask with the eyes and mouth cut out for The
Nightmare Ends on Halloween II in 2011, but for this film we all thought
it was important to see me in full makeup and not wearing a mask of
Robert's face. That way the audience could really see what I would look
like legitimately. The makeup was a bald cap, liquid latex and cotton with
different color makeup blended into it. It covered my entire head and
neck. It was easier to act in the makeup as I could really make readable
facial expressions. Do
talk about your director Chris R. Notarile [Chris
R. Notarile interview - click here], and what was your
collaboration like?
Chris is one of my very best friends.
We've been working together since 2007 and we have a great mutual respect
for each other. We bounce ideas off of each other and every film I've
worked on with him has been amazing. We know each other so well now that
we always know what the other wants from a performance standpoint. Not
only is he an amazing filmmaker, but he's very actor oriented. He's so
organized that he has the whole film edited in his head before he sits
down to actually do it! Since you were also one of the
producers of Krueger:
The Legend of Elm Street - what were the main challenges there? No
real challenges. These films may be short, but they aren't cheap! Mainly
actor schedules, props and wardrobe were challenging. What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
It
was like a reunion! Jessica Buda returned as Mary, so it was great to work
with her again. Shannon McDermott and Christian Chase are good friends and
very talented. We filmed this one in Philadelphia (boiler room), Long
Beach and the original police station from the original 1984 film. The
locations couldn't have been nicer and there was a great vibe on set. We
could feel we were making something people would really like. It's always
work to not only top what you already did, but to come up with something
new and different in each film. We love the challenge though! As
noted, Krueger:
The Legend of Elm Street wasn't the first time you played Freddy
Krueger - so do talk about the previous movies for a bit, and how
did you first get involved with the series? Chris and I
were returning from New York one day and he said he was thinking of doing
a Freddy
prequel. He gave me the basic story and asked if I was interested
in playing Freddy. I said "Are you kidding, YES!". I can give
you a little breakdown of what we did to make each one special. A
Tale from Elm Street showed the interrogation of Freddy by Thompson
and showed what sparked his interest in Nancy. Another Tale from Elm
Street showed how Freddy manipulated children into going with him
and used the actual tactics child abductors use. A Walk Through Elm
Street got into Freddy's mind and let the audience know how his mind
worked by choosing to hide in plain sight, while stalking and abduction a
young boy. It also showed Freddy chatting with pregnant Marge at the
actual Elm Street house. The Slasher from Elm Street explored
the duality of Freddy as a loving husband and father, while continuing the
story from the previous film. Even sympathizing with the missing boy's
parents. All of that leads to the release from prison, burning and dream
demon in
The Legend of Elm Street . How
intimidating is it actually to play Freddy
Krueger, who has been turned into an icon by Robert Englund [Robert
Englund bio - click here], and do you base your performance on his
at all?
It's a little intimidating. If you take an iconic
role made famous by a talented actor and step into the role yourself, you
think "Ok, be prepared. Some people are going to tear you apart for
even making an attempt". The reality has been that a very large
portion of Elm Street fans have embraced me as Freddy and that is flat out
amazing. I'm very conscious of not carbon copying Robert's performance. I
feel that since I've mostly played Freddy in life that it was important to
do a few things that would make the character recognizable. I always use
the Clarice Starling comparison. Julianne Moore replaced Jody Foster but
kept a few voice traits and mannerisms for the character continuity. Will you ever return as Freddy
Krueger (at least that you know of), and/or other future projects
you'd like to share? Yes! While there aren't any concrete
plans for another Krueger
film, Chris does have an idea for another short
film that would still be a prequel and of course there is the feature film
script he wrote in 2011 that we would love to make. As for future
projects, I am finishing up the third part of the Masks trilogy which will
then go into festivals and eventually a DVD release. Also, the latest Krueger
and Chris's original vampire film Turned have been submitted to
quite a few festivals. So, I may be doing some festival appearances! Your/your movie's website,
Facebook, whatever else?
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RobertoLombardiRTLProductions
IMDb: http://www.imdb.me/robertolombardi
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/PacoPapo
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RTLombardi
Instagram: http://instagram.com/robertolombardiofficial
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/robertolombardiactor
Krueger Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KruegerElmStreetTale Anything else you're dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I think that
about covers everything for now. I have a lot of auditions coming up and
some other projects that I can't talk about yet, so stay tuned! Thanks for
the interview! Thank you Mike!
|