Robert Englund Recalls Going to Lunch with Johnny Depp in Freddy Krueger Makeup — and Terrifying a Waiter (Exclusive)

10/28/2024 12:16 PM

Englund is looking back on 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' ahead of its 40th anniversary, recalling to PEOPLE how he frightened an unsuspecting waiter one day

A Nightmare on Elm Street has been terrorizing teens for 40 years. At the time of its release on Nov. 9, 1984, the now-iconic horror movie, written and directed by Wes Craven, first introduced audiences to a whole new creation: a sadistic child killer who stalked high schoolers while they slept, turning his victims' dreams into living nightmares.

That killer was Freddy Krueger, who became known for his disfigured face, ratty red-and-green striped sweater and brown fedora, as well as his trademark leather hand glove adorned with metal claws. He was first brought to life on-screen by Robert Englund, who portrayed the character in six films before retiring from the role after 2003's Freddy vs. Jason.

The actor, now 77, originally appeared alongside Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson, longtime Western star John Saxon, Oscar nominee Ronee Blakley and a handful of teen stars, including Nick Corri and Johnny Depp, both in their feature film debut. 

Related: Nightmare on Elm Street Star Recalls First Time Seeing Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger: 'Totally Frightening' (Exclusive)

Filming of the slasher took place in various parts of Los Angeles over the summer in 1984. One of those locations was Hollywood's Ren-Mar Studios, which previously served as the set of I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, among other TV sitcom classics.

"There was still stuff left from those shows stacked in the corners, you know, with cobwebs and things," Englund recalls to PEOPLE while promoting Nightmare's 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) release, noting that making the horror movie there felt like "we were violating" traditional family Americana. "I do remember that kind of strange juxtaposition." 

Englund also recalls getting so "sick of the catering" on set that he, Corri and Depp went out for lunch in between takes one day. "We just couldn't do it anymore. No more peanut butter and jelly and macaroni and cheese," he says, revealing that the three of them "went across the street to a Thai restaurant." 

The only thing was, Englund was still in full costume as Freddy. While he says that "everybody got used to me in my Freddy drag," it wasn't the case for those not involved in the production, with his appearance frightening at least one of the employees at the restaurant. 

Related: Robert Englund Reveals His Own Freddy Krueger Nightmare That Still Scares Him: 'I Can Literally See It' (Exclusive)

"We went into this darkened Thai restaurant and we were sitting there, we were in the back towards the kitchen and a guy came from the back kitchen area," he recalls. "I remember it had a porthole window in the door and I had taken off the hat and the door opened and that fluorescent lighting from the kitchen spilled out and illuminated me. And I just sort of looked up at the guy and I wasn't thinking — I was playing with my chopsticks, I think — and the poor guy dropped his whole tray of food for this other group of people that were there waiting to be served. And he ran back into the kitchen."

Laughing about it now, Englund says, "What he must have seen — you know, Freddy Krueger, 12 or 14 feet away sitting at a booth, no hat on that bit of fluorescent lighting just sort of slashing across him. I think that guy's still running." 

That was just one of the many stories both Englund and Langenkamp, 60, have of their time on the set of Nightmare.

While looking back on making the movie, Langenkamp, who was 20 years old at the time, tells PEOPLE that she and her costar Amanda Wyss became good friends. "She's now even my best friend today," the actress shares, while also revealing that they, along with Depp and Corri, "would all hang out and have a lot of fun getting to know each other." 

She adds, "When you get thrown together on a set, there's a lot you wanna find out about each other and where you're from. And so there was a lot of that. But we were very comfortable very quickly. We all seemed to get along really well. We didn't have any dramas or jilted lovers or anything like that happening on this set as far as I remember." 

Related: 'Stranger Things' Director Shares 'Nightmare on Elm Street' Connections in Robert Englund's Episode

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If there was any hiccup among costars, it was the fact that the costume team sometimes would mix up the clothes that belonged to Depp and Langenkamp. "There was a lot to laugh about," the actress continues. "I know that Johnny and I, our jeans were the same size and often got mixed up. And so his, you know, were longer than mine, so he would walk out in my little high water jeans and we'd realize, 'Oh, you've got my jeans on again.' You know, we would just have funny times like that."

Speaking of Depp, while previously chatting with PEOPLE, Langenkamp shared how she felt like a veteran on the set of Nightmare compared to her costar, who was 21 years old during filming. "When I got on Nightmare on Elm Street, I had done several TV movies of the week and smaller projects. So I had been on sets before. And I always think about my experience versus Johnny Depp, who literally was on his very first job ever," she recalled. "And so I felt like the seasoned pro next to him because he really had never been on a set." 

Although she may have felt like she knew what she was doing in that moment, "I probably was faking it half the time," Langenkamp shared, acknowledging that her first starring role "was a very daunting experience for me." 

In honor of its 40th anniversary, Warner Bros. is releasing A Nightmare on Elm Street on 4K UHD digitally on Oct. 1 and on physical on Oct. 15.

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