Hellter interviews Beatrice Boepple (Amanda Krueger: Nightmare on Elm Street 5)!!
Hello Grue-Lings,
Today we have a great interview for you all. Did you ever wonder what goes on in the mind of Freddy Krueger’s Mom? How did you give birth to this dream demon? We have for you all Freddy Krueger’s mom, Amanda Krueger. Yes we have Beatrice Boepple. Beatrice had her start in multiple tv series including: The Beachcombers, 21 Jump Street, Danger Bay, Neon Rider, and The Adventures of Black Stallion. She had roles in a few 80’s films too including: Stakeout, Shoot To Kill, Quarantine, and Nightmare On Elm Street 5: Dream Child). Here is my interview with Freddy’s mom Beatrice Boepple:
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HELLTER: Where you a fan of the Nightmare On Elm Street series before auditioning for Amanda Krueger?
BEATRICE: I saw the original NOES when I was in college. It scared the living daylights out of me and I was blown away by the idea that Freddy would get to you through your dreams! What a concept! I will be 100% honest here, though. I LOVE a good scare and enjoy haunting, creepy movies, but I am not big on gore. So I can’t say I was a real FAN of the NOES franchise after the first one.
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HELLTER: How did you get the role for Amanda Krueger?
BEATRICE: I was living in LA, having recently moved down there from a fairly successful acting career in Canada. Though I was starting to be known in the Vancouver film scene, having just starred in two Canadian feature films (Quarantine & Midnight Matinee), I was a new kid in LA. My agent set up the audition, and I read for Stephen Hopkins and a few of the producers. They had me try several voices for Amanda, and then ended up hiring me on the spot. That was the first time I ever got hired on the spot without even a call back! Pretty wild!
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HELLTER: How did it feel to play horror Icon Freddy Krueger’s mother?
BEATRICE: OMGosh, it was awesome!! To land the role as the one who gives birth to such an iconic character was pretty wild. I LOVED the idea that I was one of the very few things Freddy actually fears! He’ll deny it, but he IS still scared of his mommy. You could see it in his face when my character arrived at the church. As Amanda Krueger, I was actually able to “capture” Freddy and end his reign of terror, until the next episode, at least!! Freddy’s mom may not be as popular with the fans as a lot of his victims, but one thing is for certain: Freddy Krueger may have dozens of victims but he only has ONE mother! (played by two actresses… one being ME! (Laughs!)).
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HELLTER: How was it like to work with Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger and did you have any motherly feelings for Robert or Freddy on set?
BEATRICE: It’s wild to think that I was younger than Robert Englund, when I was playing his mother. Go figure. But I actually DID do a lot of background work on my character before coming to set, trying to connect with that unconditional love that a mother has for her child, even if the child is a criminal… or in this case, Freddy Krueger. Amanda Krueger loved her baby, despite the horrific way in which he was conceived. She never blamed Freddy for that. But as he grew and turned into what he became, it was excruciating as a mother. In NOES 5, even though Amanda knows she needs to destroy him to end his killing any more people, as a mother, her love didn’t end. I tried to convey that in my portrayal of Amanda, and when I would look at Robert in his Freddy makeup, I tried to feel that maternal love.
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HELLTER: What was your favorite moment or scene in Nightmare On Elm Street 5? Mine is Freddy as a baby coming out of your stomach and announcing It’s a Boy.
BEATRICE: Well, when you ask an actor that question… it’s gotta be one that I’m in, right? (Laughs!) The birth scene was a blast to film. I loved that whole segment with Lisa & I interchanging… the decrepit hospital with all the rusty equipment.. the labor scene with all the blood, and then baby Freddy (actually a live cat, when we filmed it… before camera cuts to the robotic baby Freddy!)… it was great fun filming and great fun watching!
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HELLTER: Any fun or funny stories to share about the cast for Nightmare on Elm Street 5 and how was it like to work with Lisa Wilcox?
BEATRICE: I have to say, the cast of Dream Child were awesome! Everyone was really chill and fun. Lisa was as sweet then as she is now… totally one of the gang, a real team player, and gracious to work with. But as far as funny stories.. what pops to mind is the pigeons! In the church scene when Amanda comes out from behind the big church doors and tells Freddy that his birth was a curse on the whole of humanity…. that scene? While we were filming it, the animal wranglers were sitting behind the doors on either side, with cages full of pigeons. As the doors would open and I would start forward, pointing my arm out at Freddy, they would throw all these pigeons at me, to give the affect of them all fluttering around. Well, in THREE of the takes, a pigeon or two would land on me… my shoulder, my arm.. and in one take, a pigeon landed on my head and actually POOPED!! Thank goodness I was wearing that nun’s habit! (Laughs!!).
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HELLTER: Favorite kill in Nightmare on Elm Street 5?
BEATRICE: Personally, I loved Mark’s comic strip death. Watching the actual filming of it, where it really doesn’t look like much on set, to then see how it turns out after all the film editing magic… I just thought it was really amazing. Totally opposite reaction than most horror film fans, I know. (remember, I’m a gore-whimp!!)
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HELLTER: How do you feel about the whole concept of the character of Amanda Krueger, she’s a nun who was locked in an insane asylum and tortured and raped by the maniacs and giving birth to a evil entity that is Freddy Krueger?
BEATRICE: I find the character of Amanda Krueger both tragic and fascinating. Of course, as an actor, I created a lot of back story on her in order to give the character depth when playing her, so I could see an entire film based on her character, maybe even her relationship with her grand-daughter, Katherine/Maggie Burroughs,being very interesting and moving. Only if I get to play Amanda though! (Laughs)!!!
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HELLTER: Do you think Amanda could have tried to get Freddy out of being evil and having a happy family life with him as a normal child?
BEATRICE: Psychologically, Freddy was messed up from being separated from his mother and moved from foster home to foster home, and from the horrible abuse he took from his foster father. If Amanda wasn’t a nun and had been able to raise him herself, he would certainly not have turned out as he did. Though Amanda was gang raped by the “100 maniacs”, scientifically, only ONE of them actually fathered Freddy. BUT… that does not a horror film make. As an adult Freddy as he is now, could she change him? No, I don’t think so. Not even a mother’s love, I fear, can change a creature that is that far into the realm in which he roams!
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HELLTER: How was it like working on set for another horror film Quarintine?
BEATRICE: Quarantine was totally a blast. It was the first film in which I had the starring role, and I got to be the badass hero, gun toting, kidnapping, the works. It was a mega low budget Canadian film (1989) that showed a dystopian future with a female hero, way before Hunger Games and Divergent! And Check out the cool side braid my character wore almost 25 years before Katniss came on the scene! But the other actual horror film I did in Canada was called “”Matinee” or sometimes released as “Midnight Matinee”, directed by Richard Martin. The mood and sets of horror films are pretty awesome places to work in, as the sets and lighting etc. create such a mood, before you even get into special affects etc! Great fun!
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HELLTER: I see your son’s in a band. DO you wanna give us information on how people can listen to his music?
BEATRICE: Thank you for giving me a chance to brag about my son’s music! Ok, so he’s a senior in high school, and he hopes to go on to write music for film, tv, video games, what ever. As long as he can be in the music industry. We’re looking at a ton of colleges with great music programs. His band hasn’t posted any of their music yet, but you can listen to a couple of songs he wrote himself on Soundcloud, under Mattawai: https://soundcloud.com/mattawai
He doesn’t post his more cinematic pieces there right now, but some of his House & dubstep stuff is there. If anyone reading this is working on a film and need a student to score it for free, he’s your guy!!
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HELLTER: Anything else you would like to discuss or promote?
BEATRICE: I guess I’d just like fans to know that, though I have purposely taken a long hiatus from my acting career to devote my time to raising my two sons, once they are both off to college, I plan to make a real return to acting. In the meantime, I am more than happy to do conventions now and again, (though people have to REQUEST me!) and if anyone has a really meaty role that I would be good for, I’m open to consideration!! It’s been a blast. Now have yourself some sweet dreams, you hear?! xoxo
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