Heather Langenkamp: It's frustrating not to have experienced 'Elm Street'

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May 23, 2011 | 2:49pm

Fans have spent over 25 years dissecting, debating and devouring the "Nightmare on Elm Street" series, but no ane has ever documented what it'southward similar to be at the eye of the tempest. Until at present.

Original star Heather Langenkamp has turned the photographic camera on the fans, the franchise and — most intriguingly — herself in a new documentary, titled "I Am Nancy." It not only offers up a fascinating wait at what it'south actually like to be horror heroine template Nancy Thompson, but what virtually iii decades worth of fan fawning feels like.

That was just 1 of the topics covered when I chosen up Heather to talk about "I Am Nancy," what her fondest memories of making "Nightmare on Elm Street" are and if she'southward been able to watch the 2010 remake.

PopWrap: Outset of all, I loved "I Am Nancy."

Heather Langenkamp: Oh thanks. It's funny, I didn't realize how nervous I was nigh people's reaction until I sent out the first copies and it hit me that I'd be getting people's responses. It's i affair for mom & dad to similar it, but the pressure is so great when fans come into play.

Pow: Where did the idea for this documentary come from?

Heather: Well, in that location was this free energy around the 25th Anniversary of the motion picture and the reboot – and so there was this upswell of attention and the bandage was invited to lots of events around the anniversary. So I was already planning on doing these things, but ane day my sister-in-law noticed that a lot of the guys in our office were giggling and blushing when I would walk by. She'due south not into the horror thing so she didn't empathize why. I explained, it'due south Nancy. Information technology's being in that movie. they still remember it from when they were little. And then I called Wes Craven i 24-hour interval and told his assistant that it was Heather Langenkamp calling – and he didn't recognize the name. He said, "tin you spell that for me?" And my sister-in-law thought it was hilarious. She really said, "I wish I had information technology on film – yous calling Wes Craven'south office and spelling your concluding name to his banana when it's on the poster behind him." After she said that, I realized I alive in this dual earth where part of it is me beingness this very bearding person – people in the PTA don't even know I was in this pic. On the flipside, I bargain with these really serious ardent amazingly defended fans and am constantly blowing in and out of both worlds. She wanted to movie the other world – so it started from this funny tongue in cheek mission.

PW: Merely plainly your intent changed at some point since the last product takes a very sociological approach to "Nightmare."

Heather: Yea, nosotros realized we could go a lot deeper than the toys being silly. Nosotros could have a historical and sociological discussion of what these movies hateful to people. So I was and so lucky to get interviews with Wes and Robert, which I thought rounded out the whole discussion. One of the annoying things when you're in a movie is that gets talked most is everyone projects meaning onto everyone'due south intentions. So I thought I'd finally ask the people who made the movie what they were trying to convey. Don't go me incorrect, I love hearing people's interpretations but I think everyone as 50 really benefits hearing from the equus caballus's rima oris what we were thinking at that time.

PW: What practise you recollect most from making the movie?

Heather: For some days, I have really strong memories of working on the picture. Others are a blur. On "Nightmare" i and vii, I worked every twenty-four hours of the shooting schedule. I didn't have a single day off. Those were very tough. But with "Nightmare," it was my kickoff real movie, then some of the memories are embarrassment – like I remember one of the first days, I had to scream. And for the rehearsal, I simply went half-hearted with it. Simply when the real take came, I just let it go. The poor sound homo had monitored his levels based on my rehearsal scream so he came up to me and said, "don't you always exercise that once more!" Like really getting angry because I had blasted out his eardrums. That's when I learned I had to always rehearse as if it was to moving picture. Both Johnny [Depp] and I were totally new and so we were both scared out of our minds that we'd ruin the picture.

Pw: I've read a lot of interviews with you, Wes and Robert over the years, just seeing Wes' daughter — who inspired Nancy — talk about the film'southward legacy was quite eye opening.

Heather: And that came completely at the terminate of the process – I called Jessica after Wes explained how instrumental she was to the script to see if she'd talk to me since her dad brought her into it so much. Then she said that affair about those movies being love messages from her dad and I got goosebumps. I thought, no i would ever suspect "Nightmare on Elm Street" was a love letter of the alphabet. And then their painful history becomes another metaphor for the Freddy Krueger's in anybody's life. It was like kismet for our movie because when you're making a documentary, everything is a wish list. A hope. Just y'all have to always say, whatever happens volition be meliorate than what I "want."

PW: The fans are besides integral to the physician, and I couldn't believe how many of them shared such personal stories with you and the cameras. Peculiarly the girl in the wheelchair who discovered the films after beingness burned herself.

Heather: I only don't know if I could be that honest – I thought she was an amazing example of the fans who just really opened up for me. The thing I have come to treasure is that because I played this character, no one knows what kind of person I am in real life, but people really trust me [laughs]. I could be a horrible witch. But they think of me as this skilful stiff person. So I e'er try to alive up to that, but some days I would get into the bathroom and cry subsequently these interviews. I'm not her, I'm not that good, I'm not that strong, I'm not that honest and true. I 'm weak similar everybody, but the thing I establish then magnificent is the fans love Nancy, so Heather becomes this intermediary and then the fans can talk straight to her. They felt like if they could speak to Nancy, she could validate their life in ways they needed it.

Pw: You start off the documentary saying you don't get why people love Nancy. After going through the process, exercise you now understand it?

Heather: You know, I'm very frustrated that I didn't become to experience "Nightmare on Elm Street" – information technology would be like not getting to see "Star Wars" or something [laughs]. It's actually frustrating that I didn't become to go and feel what everyone else felt. To get the take a chance, like anybody else, to dear Freddy. I nevertheless haven't answered that question, but I now know how to appreciate it through other people.

Prisoner of war: A expert portion of the movie is dedicated to figuring out why, with all the merchandizing, no Nancy dolls or figurines were made. Accept you made good on your word and actually produced some on your own?

Heather: I am even so serious most it, but the movie has been a fleck all-consuming. I'm working on it and as shortly every bit I can get this off the ground, I will probably move on to that. It's i of my dreams to do make them, simply there's a lot of licensing involved, so that'southward down the route. But I'1000 really serious virtually the puzzlement over her absence. It all has to do with the fact that Hollywood thinks only boys are interested in these movies, and no boy is going to buy a doll. I now understand why they picked the bathtub scene, where there's that naked figure. For some reason, I find it agonizing that young boys would buy that [laughs]. I mean, we don't permit young boys buy naked girl dolls anywhere else in America, that'south why I wasn't sure if I should be upset about information technology. I think Nancy is so absent because anybody assumes this is a male driven genre, but more than half my fans are women, so Hollywood is fashion backside the times.

PW: And yet y'all call that scene one of your favorites.

Heather: I do. I think information technology's a beautiful scene, and one of the first times you truly sympathise the magical extent of Freddy'southward powers. I as well love Nancy'southward final battle with Freddy considering it's really rare to see a woman fighting a man. It's i area that people never seem to notice – or at to the lowest degree talk to me about. Here's a 16-year-old daughter, having the battle of her life with a grown homo on her bed. It'due south frightening and so wrong on and then many levels. Every bit an older woman, I think that scene represents then much strength and virtue in every way. I experience then lucky I was a office of that scene.

PW: The bathtub scene was used extensively in promotion of the 2010 remake — have you seen information technology?

Heather: I saw a commercial for the movie that used the bathtub scene – it'due south hilarious what bothered me nearly it. Mostly that the glove looked CGI and that there were shampoo bottles in the scene. Didn't they picket the original? They were trying to brand this their own and the way they did that was with shampoo bottles?!? At that moment I realized if I was having such a potent reaction to a commercial, I didn't want to grade an opinion of the whole movie. I know it's probably adept, merely I didn't want to have to endure my critical heed.

PW: In the last few years you accept become very involved with the behind-the-scenes work on films — practice you lot prefer that or do you lot miss acting?

Heather: I totally love being on camera [laughs]. I'm such a drama geek there. Point a calorie-free at me and I'll start tap dancing. Simply one of the burdens of being Nancy Thompson that no other role always offered to me in the horror genre always approached the coolness of that character. I was fortunate plenty to have my kids early on, so being a mom ever ended upwardly existence a improve gig than these other parts that came along. So I always justified not really working a lot because I had a family unit. At present that I take raised my kids, I'm really yearning to become back into it!

"I Am Nancy" is at present available, click here to order!