David Bruckner, director of the new Hellraiser, reached out to get Bradley on board for at least a cameo in the film. Sadly, a combination of pandemic timing issues and the actor wanting to leave his legacy in the series kept this from happening.
Doug Bradley was approached to reprise his role of Pinhead, but became hesitant when told that there would be no second draft of the script, which he believed was neither good nor bad, just "not finished." Bradley ultimately declined after being told that his salary from previous films would be, in his words, cut down ...
In The Hellbound Heart, Cenobites are described as androgynous, and Pinhead is said to have a feminine-sounding voice, which was used as inspiration to cast Clayton as the character.
It is the second Hellraiser film without Doug Bradley as Pinhead; newcomer Taylor was cast after impressing Tunnicliffe in an audition. He and Tunnicliffe decided to develop a new look and interpretation, rather than imitating Bradley's performance.
Clive Barker HELLRAISER REBOOT Doug Bradley Weighs In On FEMALE PINHEAD
How many times did Doug Bradley play Pinhead?
While Barker worked on writing with his friend Peter Atkins (script-writer for several Hellraiser films), Bradley started acting. Bradley made it to the Movie Monster Hall Of Fame with his role as the cenobite, Pinhead, who he portrayed in eight of the Hellraiser movies.
Described by Doug Bradley as stronger than Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, Pinhead is an extremely powerful being with supernatural abilities. His preferred method of attack is to summon hooks and chains that mutilate victims, often tearing them apart.
The Hellraiser reboot movie includes a female version of Pinhead, but this change to Hellraiser movie tradition actually closer to the character's original depiction.
While Pinhead isn't a villain in the first two Hellraiser movies — he's a neutral representative of Hell — he switches to being an unequivocal, full-blown bad guy in Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth.
By becoming a Cenobite, the individual is gifted a host of unique abilities, including immortality, the inability to age, invulnerability and teleportation. However, because Pinhead is the leader, he has unique skills that involve manifesting objects from thin air and mental control over chains and hooks.
Leviathan, also known as the God of Flesh, Hunger and Desire, is the overarching antagonist of the Hellraiser franchise. It is the "deity" residing inside the extra-dimensional world known as the Labyrinth who is the overlord ruling the Cenobites, including their masters Pinhead and the Engineer.
So far the only beings that can injure or kill a Cenobite are the Cenobites themselves, supernatural creatures, or a high-tier deity such as Leviathan's sister or Leviathan himself, in case any Cenobites upset him. In the movie version when a Cenobite dies, they return to their human form.
Freddy is a member of the Cenobite council and the rival of Laughing Jack. He is also the most feared and dreaded enforcer of Zalgo, even more so than Pinhead. Freddy is played by Robert Englund.
After killing J.P. and releasing Pinhead, Terri was turned into the Cenobite known as Dreamer. It was one of the worst Cenobite designs, particularly because Dreamer had no real powers in comparison to her brethren. She was also far more human in appearance than the rest, which didn't add much to her own malevolence.
Hellraiser was shot in various locations in London, England, UK. The interior scenes took place at the Production Village Studio, Cricklewood Lane, Cricklewood. London. Photo by David Dibert on Unsplash.
Pinhead's pins are believed to be the source of his power and his crowing adornment that makes him the Priest of Hell. Pinhead, portrayed by Doug Bradley in Hellraiser (1987), is 6 foot 5 inches (1.96 m) tall. Pinhead, also known as Hell Priest, is the main character in the Hellraiser series.
Pinhead, like all of the Cenobites, is genderless, though described as having a feminine voice. Pinhead's physical appearance in the book is the same, but its actions don't even cover a whole page.
In the novella The Hellbound Heart, Pinhead was just a minion to a more powerful master, known as the Lead Cenobite. This leader had chained hooks across his face, stretching out all parts of his head. He also had chains from his eyes to his mouth, causing his eyes to move when he spoke.
Some of that chaos will doubtless arrive courtesy of the Cenobite leader Pinhead. The beloved horror character, and S&M icon, was portrayed in the original film, and many of its sequels, by Doug Bradley, but in Bruckner's movie Pinhead is played by Sense8 actress Jamie Clayton.
