Hellter interviews Leslie Hoffman (A Nightmare On Elm Street)!!
Hello Grue-Lings,
Today we have for a actress who is known for her classic line in Nightmare On Elm Street. Where’s your pass, and Nancy looks at her, Screw Your Pass. This is Leslie Hoffman.
Leslie grew up in Upstate New York. Leslie took gymnastic and ballet classes and was performing on stage by the age of four. Later, she attended acting classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Herbert Berghof Studios in New York City. This is when she discovered acting to be too slow for her, action was what she desired and that meant becoming a stuntwoman.
In the mid 70s, she discovered Paul Stader’s gym in Santa Monica, California. There, Leslie practiced high falls, fights, fencing, etc. Less than two years later, she was able to join SAG on her first union job Two-Minute Warning and has supported herself ever since. She was the first “voted in” member of the “Society of Professional Stuntwomen”. During this time, she worked on such shows as The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, 1941 and M*A*S*H.
The 80s, Leslie was the first Stuntwoman elected to the Board of Directors of SAG, the AFTRA Local Board and AFTRA National Board. She was the National Chairwoman of the Stunt & Safety Committee and the Co-Chair of the Young Performers Committee. She was sent to Sacramento to testify in possible changes to the Child Labor Laws after the “Twilight Zone” incident. Leslie was the first Stuntwoman to join Women In Film. She was Doris Roberts regular stunt double on Remington Steele, as well as working on shows like CHiPs, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Airplane!. During the 90s, she continues to work as a stuntwoman and stunt coordinator. She has coordinated projects such as the ABC Afterschool Special, “Me and My Hormones”. This was Melissa Gilbert’s directorial debut and starred Robin Strasser and Marion Ross with Brianne Murphy as the AC.
In the 90s, she was a member of the Stuntwomen’s Association. She worked regularly on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995). This also included being an assistant stunt coordinator for Dennis Madalone, the Stunt Coordinator of both “Star Trek” shows. She was also Roxann Dawson’s “Torres” regular double on “Voyager”.
Leslie gives back to the Industry by giving seminars on safety to various unions, film organizations and film colleges. Along with Brianne Murphy ASC, she did a seminar in cinematography at the Native American Film Festival in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the AFTRA-SAG Young Performers Handbook, she wrote the chapter on safety. She has been interviewed extensively on the radio and in published articles. In the 1996 book, “Burns, Falls and Crashes”, written by David Jon Wiener, you will find Chapter 13 is dedicated to her work.
Her stunts are widely recognized such as her doubling Queen Elizabeth II going down the banquet table in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!. Last year, she worked on Wes Craven’s Scream 2. And Universal’s feature Mystery Men.
Leslie has been invited to Special Events for these movies she appeared in: “Nightmare on Elm Street” An event honoring Wendie Jo Sperber at the screening of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “1941”. Here is our interview with Leslie Hoffman:
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HELLTER: You are a stunt woman and actress. How did you get involved in Stunt work?
LESLIE: The joke answer is “I sort of fell into it!
The real answer is, as far as I remember I always wanted to be in the Entertainment Industry. I though that meant being an Actress, I even attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Herbert Berghof Studios. It wasn’t until my Family was visiting my Older Brother who was attending CALTECH in California and we went Universal Studios. There, I saw the Western Stunt Show and that is when I realized being a Stuntwoman, I could act as well as being physical. When I graduated High School, I left Saranac Lake, NY and came to Los Angeles, where I discovered a small gym where stunt people ” it training” ( who had the same dream as mine) would practice the various crafts of being a Profession Stuntperson. My first Union Show was “Two Minute Warning”.
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HELLTER: I heard you did a really amazing stunt while filming Love Boat. Can you tell us the story about that?
LESLIE: They needed a Stuntwoman to fall off the ship. No Stuntwoman was willing to take the job, until they asked me. Had I said “no”, they would have put a wig on a man. I also felt that I could complete the stunt without getting hurt. Stunt People are professionals that can do a stunt over and over again, until the Director gets what they want for camera. Daredevils do a stunt once and “may” even up in the hospital so months.
So the day came, I looked over the edge of the ship and asked how many feet do you think it is? The Stunt Coordinator said, “Oh, about 40 feet I guess” Also this fall was done with a Stuntman because the plot was, that the woman slips and falls off the Boat and the man also jumps in to rescue her. We landed about 3 feet apart from each other. Had either of us hit the water wrong (it is the same as hitting concrete) or had he landed on me, more than likely we both would have been killed.
There is more to this story, the young male Actor came up to me afterwards and complimented me on the stunt, I thanked him for his kind words. Later that night, I turned on the TV and a new show was airing for the first time…….”Three’s Company” starring John Ritter….. HE was the young Actor! Also, a couple of days later, the Stunt Coordinator called me and told me that they had measured the height, not 40 feet but 78 feet to water!
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HELLTER: What stunts did you do on M*A*S*H?
LESLIE: The episode was call “M*A*S*H Olympics”. These are the really fun stunt days. I was is a crutch race (I could have easily won the race but as the script was written, Loretta Switt (Hot Lips) had to win so I “throw the race”. The other stunt was a piggy back race and the Stuntman carrying me and myself had to fall, so down we went. The most memorable thing about that day was lunchtime, I had gotten my food and was sitting by myself, when a voice from behind me asked if he could have lunch with me. I turned around and it was HARRY MORGAN!!!!! (Colonel Potter) I said “yes” and he sat down and WE had a most wonderful lunch and pleasant conversation There are so few Named Actors that would do that, and he was one of them. I was lucky enough in my career to have several Movie/Television Stars that were very kind to me.
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HELLTER: You were on the very popular tv series as both a stunt woman and actress for Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and Voyager. Can you tell us your character in the series and any crazy stunts you did while filming it?
LESLIE: I was playing myself as various Star Fleet and Aliens plus stunt doubling various Actresses. I got shot, thrown and of course, the ship panels were always exploding so I would be blown backwards. On Voyager, I was B’Elanna Torres stunt double, which was great, because being half Klingon I could fight like a man plus other jobs.
I have to admit that I am one of the original Trekkies, so working on Star Trek was to dream come true.
I stunt doubled Mila (Cardassian Garak’s Mother) on DS9, she was already dead and then thrown down a staircase. After the stair fall the Jem’Hadars thrown a bomb down the steps and it explodes. One of the sparks landed near my hand and I could feel the heat but I could not move my hand because I was “dead”.
On Voyager, one time I was doubling Torres repelling down a cliff part way and then fall because Nelix’s rope broke. We had rehearsed it, but then the Director wanted me to move over a couple of feet to be in a different position on the cliff for the fall. Unbeknown to me, the was sort of an indent in the cliff right below me and when I stepped off my foot went into that hole and I collapsed. I was upside down and stuck because the weight of my body had the rope tightly over my over foot, that was now above my head . Everyone was panicking “Get her down!!!” I was fine, finally one of the Special Effects Guys peeked over the cliff to see what everyone was screaming about….I kindly asked him to pull up on the rope, so that I could get my foot out. Once he freed me, I told the people below that I was ready to do the stunt and there was no need for me to come down. We filmed it and once finished, the Director came up to me and thanked me for the job I had done.
Later, I was speaking with one of my fellow stunt Friends Tom Morga and explaining how nice the Director had been to me. Tom said “Yes, Andy is always that way”. “Andy who?” “Andy Robinson” LOL, I did not recognize Andrew Robinson out of his Garak makeup!
One final story, Alien Makeup stories sometimes work in the other direction as well. Most of the time, I can “see through” the makeup and recognize a Fellow Stuntperson. One day, I walked onto the DS9 set and I hear this voice say “Hello Leslie”. I turned around and it was a Klingon, I absolutely could not tell who it was and yet the voice was so familiar. It was Avery Brooks dressed up as a Klingon!
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HELLTER: What stunt work did you do in Devil Dog: Hound of Hell and what do you think of that horror film?
LESLIE: The Actress that I was doubling was praying over some Votive Candles. The Devil Dog Puppy sets her bathrobe, on fire with these candles, so that was the stunt. It was a “made for television movie” and I have only seen it once. I really don’t know is they have ever shown it again, but seemed like a good plot. As for movies or television, one can read the script and think that it is the greatest thing in the world and yet for some reason, it does not “click” with the audience and becomes long forgotten…..yet, you might think the script is so-so and it becomes a hit or cult classic.
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HELLTER: Any cool on set stories from a very under rated horror film Motel Hell?
LESLIE: A funny but not so funny experience. I was doubling the Sister, Ida Smith and I was suppose to try to drown Terry. We were in a pond extremely cold water, so I had a wetsuit on, which keeps the heat in but it also makes you quite buoyant. So I am ducking the other stuntwoman under and the director shouts out to me that he wants me to go under the water as well. As hard as I tried, I could not get under the water because the wetsuit was keeping me afloat.
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HELLTER: Any cool on set stories from a very under rated horror film The Car?
LESLIE: We were filming is St. George, Utah on a very dry dirt horse racing track while leading horses down the track. The scene was “The Car” spooks the horses, which makes them get loose from our grips. They also had a wind machine, I am assuming to show the evil power that The Car had. I was advised “Make yourself big..by waving your arms in the air because horses do not like running over people.” Except the wind machine blew up so much dirt, that the horses could not see us. One ran by me and its’ stirrup on the saddle hit me and knocked me to the ground. I just put my hands other my head and hoped that I would not get trampled. I wasn’t stepped on, but another stuntman had a horse run straight into him. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt.
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HELLTER: You work with Wes on three of his films, what are your thoughts and interactions on Wes Craven?
LESLIE: Yes, they were Nightmare on Elm Street, Deadly Friend and Scream 2 in that order. I found Wes Craven one of the most peasant Directors to work them. On all these films, he would always compliment me on the stunts that I did for him. Because I was hired as a stuntwoman on Nightmare, I never was given a script. Wes told to me “Heather is going to run around the corner and bump into you. When you hit the ground I want you to say “Where’s your pass?”
Then in the next scene, almost apologetic, Wes said, “I want you to wave the claws and smile and then say “Hey Nancy, no running in the Hallway” but I want you to know, that your voice will not be heard in the movie because we are going to have the Actor dubbed in that line.” They needed me to say the line so that my mouth was moving, so that later Robert could dub in the line. Little did I know that this scene and the three sentences spoken would become so iconic. I have had Fans come up to me and say that I can’t even watch that scene anymore. I guess as a child for Freddy’s voice to come out of my mouth was terrifying to some.
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HELLTER: How did you get involved with Nightmare on Elm Street? Did they hire you first as a stunt woman or as a actress in the film?
LESLIE: How I got the job was, I was hired by the Stunt Coordinator, Tony Cerece to do the stunt, so they gave me the lines as well. That really is my hair in those ponytails. Stuntpeople and Actors both belong to the Screen Actors Guild. (There is no stunt union).
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HELLTER: You were the stunt double for Anne Ramsey on “Deadly Friend”, how was it like working with Anne and being on set for “Deadly Friend”?
LESLIE: We were working very late that night. The stunt was having a basketball being thrown at my/Anne’s head and I had to duck, but in the movie the ball hits her head and it “explodes”. Anne was wonderful to work with….late night shoots are hard on everyone but we got the job done.
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HELLTER: You were the stunt double for Laurie Metcalf in “Scream 2”, how was it like working with Laurie and being on set for “Scream 2”?
LESLIE: She was nice to work with, but sometimes you don’t always get to interact with an Actress that you are stunt doubling as one might think. On Scream 2, Wes “threw” everything at me. I got hit in the head by a beer bottle, had a stage pillar almost fall on me, stage lights swinging down almost hitting me, a fight with Neve Campbell and having a stage wall fall on top of me as I was climbing it. Loved every moment of that me….really.
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HELLTER: What are your thoughts and interactions Robert Englund?
LESLIE: We, unfortunately did not work together on the film, but we have been together at a couple of Horror Conventions. I found him a very nice person to be around….very friendly. I remember at one convention he talked to the audience about him dubbing in the line “Hey Nancy, No running in the Hallway.” He said that he was in New York City at that point and they took him to a sound studio, he remember that the headset was so old that it actually was made out of leather. So he sat there and watched me on the film and had to copy exactly the way I had said the line. Obviously, he did a perfect job.
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HELLTER: Did you ever think your little cameo in Nightmare on Elm Street would turn out so Iconic. It’s one of the most Iconic scenes and lines in the whole Nightmare on Elm Street series. Your thoughts on Where’s your Pass, Screw your Pass? That line inspired this website gruemonkey.com screw your bananas!!
LESLIE: I always wanted to do at least one movie or television show, that people would recognize and Nightmare is definitely one of the two most reconizeagle scene or stunt I have done. The other one is Queen Elizabeth sliding down the banquet table with her legs up in the air, from the movie “Naked Gun”.
But back to your question, you must realize that this was a low budget Horror Film…the original “Nightmare on Elm Street”, so no, I never in my Life expected that this scene and its dialogue would become so iconic and memorable.
It is an honor to know that you have used Heather’s line to inspire the line you use on your Website. So many books have been written about Nightmare on Elm Street and I am in them as well as the documentary, “Never Sleep Again”, where I was interviewed and also did a funny skit with Sean Clark in the documentary of that scene as well.
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HELLTER: How was it like working with Heather Langenkamp on and off set?
LESLIE: Heather was wonderful and a real trooper. She had to run into me, to send me to the floor. I have heard stories were Performers get over excited and can hurt a Stunt Performer. Heather took directions very well and ran into me at the correct speed and force, so that I could “launch” myself backwards…safely and have control over the stunt. I really enjoyed working with her.
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HELLTER: Your favorite kill and favorite scene in Nightmare On Elm Street?
LESLIE: It is a toss up between Rod with the blanket wrapping around his neck and choking him and Glen’s death with the bed and BLOOD, so much BLOOD!!!!! My favorite scene is the one I am in. As an Actress, it is hard to describe the thrill one gets when you see yourself on the Big Screen or even the television. Wes was so nice to me that if you watch the credits not only do you see my name as the Hallguard, you will also see my name listed in the stunt area as well. It is hard enough (back then) for a stuntperson to have even been listed in the credits and here Wes put my name in twice! This is the only movie that this has ever happen for me. So truly grateful to Wes, that he thought that highly of me, what an honor.
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HELLTER: Do you wish you could have fought Freddy in the film?
LESLIE: It would have been fun to do, but I think the original Nightmare on Elm Street is perfect the way it is.
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HELLTER: Anything else you wanna discuss or promote?
LESLIE: Performers in the Entertainment Industry, especially Stunt Performers are very much like the NFL Players. No matter how much preparation goes into a stunt, one’s body takes a beating and we suffer the same injuries. Our knees, backs and necks wear out. Also we can get Traumatic Brain Injuries, PTSD and CTE. This is not making the news, I presume because we are not considered “celebrates”. As for our Union and their Pension and Health Plan, they do not want the Performers to even make claims. I have actually two lawsuits against the Pension Plan that has been going on for 8 years now. The first lawsuit was denying me my Occupational Disability Pension and Health Plan and the second suit was due to them taking away my disability Plan and then NOT reviewing their decision in a timely matter. So even though they had been giving me my Disability Pension from the early 2000’s, they now have striped me of my Pension Payments for the last two years. I was forced to sell my possessions and house, while I wait two years before the Higher Court will listen to my Lawsuit for the SECOND time.
I really do not want to end on a sad note. This is my biggest wish is, to go to Horror Conventions so that I can meet all the Nightmare on Elm Street Fans and talk about everything. Fans make me remember what a marvelous career that I had. Without the Fans, there would have been no career for me.
So I thank you all for the wonderful time that I had as an Actress and Stuntwoman. My Love and Admiration.
Thank you, for allowing to share my stories with you, Rocky and Gruemonkey.com.
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