Doug Bradley played Cenobite leader Pinhead (though that wasn't originally the character's name) in the first Hellraiser and its six sequels, before Jamie Clayton took over as the demonic sadist in David Bruckner’s 2022 reboot.
During an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Bradley revealed that he might consider playing Pinhead again if Clive Barker's 2015 novel The Scarlet Gospels was ever adapted.
“If we did that, we could maybe present an older Pinhead to be aware of the fact that I am the age I am, that time and gravity does what time and gravity does. An older, darker Pinhead would intrigue me, one not so much in love with the flippant one-liners and the witty comebacks and so forth.”
Though it may be hard to imagine Pinhead getting even darker, the book does indeed introduce the most ruthless and vindictive interpretation of the villain yet. There's been no talk of a Scarlet Gospels movie or TV series, but Barker has seemed open to the idea in the past, so Bradley might just get the opportunity to tear a few more souls apart yet.
As for the recent reboot, Bradley says he was impressed by Clayton's performance, but wasn't overly keen on the movie itself.
“Jamie is very slight. She’s tiny across the shoulders. I was immediately intrigued by it and kind of sat up. When Pinhead first appears in Hellraiser, it’s very in your face. In spite of the fact that I’m wearing a skirt, it’s very macho. It’s very masculine. It’s, ‘Here we are. We’re Cenobites. We do this, we do that. [frick] with us, and we’ll tear your soul apart.’ It’s very clear."
“[Jamie] looked rather doll-like, a little bit childlike," he continued. "And I remembered Clive’s original description of the Pinhead cenobite from The Hellbound Heart. It — gender unclear — had a light and breathy voice like that of an excited girl, and that was what I wanted to hear. We didn’t get that. We got a voice that was rather close to the original Pinhead voice. I wanted something that matched the image; something quiet, delicate, a little bit playful, but still with the threat riding through it.
She wasn’t really asked to do very much. There were some wonderful shots. There’s the distance shot where she’s standing on water outside the house; beautiful, beautiful shot. But I felt she wasn’t asked to be terribly proactive thereafter. So I was excited, intrigued, and ultimately a little bit disappointed — but not by Jamie’s performance at all.”
The movie was fairly well-received by critics, but fans were less impressed, and a sequel has yet to be announced.
What do you make of Bradley's comments? Would you like to see him back as Pinhead?