As a young actor in the 1970’s  Los Angeles must have been the place to be. With an extraordinary output of masterpiece movies, there truly is no other decade like it in Hollywood history. 

 In 1975 Jaws, coined the term Blockbuster (with people literally lined round the block to see it) but it was Star Wars two years later that really changed the game, becoming a global sensation and creating a rabid type of fandom which the world had never seen before.

 Everyone and their Pot Dealer (more on that in a moment) were getting called in, to audition for George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppala, who was casting Apocalypse Now across the hall from the Space Fantasy. 

 Coppola, with seemingly the more prestigious project at the time, an epic based on the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Was looking at a lot of the same actors George Lucas was, hence a very early and fleeting appearance of Mamma Cass's (of the Mamma and Pappas and California Dreaming fame) Marijuana dealer, Harrison Ford, who also happened to be an odd job carpenter known and liked by the LA elite. 

 With a beautiful blonde mane and 165 pounds of solid muscle (his own words) a confident young Shakespearean trained utility actor by the name of Robert Englund was called up to read for the role of the Surfer, in Apocalypse Now.. 

 After watching his read the casting people suggested that Englund then go across the hall as they were looking for something he might be right for. It was at this moment in time, that eventual Freddy Krueger read for the role of Han Solo. 

 With two castings under his belt Englund returned to his apartment where a good friend of his happened to be staying with him. Also an actor, the good friend was on the couch watching the Mary Tyler Moore show when Englund came in. Giving his friend the heads up that they were casting this thing called Star Wars, they might have something for him. 

The friend eagerly followed through and a few months later found himself in the desert of Tunisia probably cursing Englund for getting him involved in this weird little fantasy movie that nobody is likely to see. That friend was Mark Hamill and the rest…. is movie history. 

 How interesting though to think about the what ifs here? Imagine Englund as Solo, Imagine Ford as Krueger, maybe just maybe, there is a multiverse out there where that played out. 

I for one am happy with the knowledge that Freddy Kruger contributed just a little to one of the most iconic movies in film history.

The full Interview with Robert Englund is available to read at www.madmonster.com and can be found in issue two of the Mag