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Hellraiser 2 made Gary Oldman jealous, says Kenneth Cranham - SciFiNow

Hellraiser 2 made Gary Oldman jealous, says Kenneth Cranham

In The Flesh star Kenneth Cranham on Hellraiser 2 and BBC Three’s new zombie drama

Kenneth Cranham as Channard in Hellraiser 2: Hellbound
Kenneth Cranham as Channard in Hellraiser 2: Hellbound

Kenneth Cranham said that his role in Hellraiser 2 as Dr. Channard made fellow actor Gary Oldman a teensy bit jealous and that was in part why he took the role.

“The makers wanted me in to play Channard in the Hellraiser sequel. I used to see quite a bit of Gary Oldman at the time, then I realised that he was a little envious of me and I had so few opportunities to make him jealous. Of course it later resulted in him playing Dracula.”

Speaking on the set of BBC Three’s zombie drama In The Flesh, where he’s playing fire and brimstone spouting local churchman Vicar Oddie, the 68-year-old actor reminisced about the film’s legacy and special effects.

“It was awful getting the makeup on, it took seven hours,” Cranham recalls. “In films like Hellraiser 2 what they do is they hang around off camera and splatter you with huge economy size tubes of KY jelly. In the end you look as if you’ve just emerged or been born from some devil’s fucking vagina.”

Cranham said he had to act the film’s tentacle scene backwards and the movie scared even him.

“That tentacle looked like a giant asparagus covered in herpes. I watched it once late at night. It really put the wind up me and I’m in it. I’ve met people who have seen it 50 times – I think they’re taking substances.’”

Speaking about his role as Vicar Oddie, the Hot Fuzz actor said: “He’s reclaimed leadership of the community because everything has fallen apart. As drama’s go, I don’t think there’s been anything like this.”

Cranham was also complimentary about up and coming cast members such as Luke Newberry and Harriet Cains.

“They just put up with me and hope I don’t fart too much.”

In The Flesh starts 17 March 2013 at 10pm on BBC Three. Pick up Hellraiser: Hellbound 2 on DVD for £3.49 from Amazon.co.uk.