David Bruckner has taken an iconic horror franchise to the next level with his 1987 film Hellraiser, and based on his own novella The Hellbound Heart, Cenobites are mysterious beings who are capable of unimaginable torture and seek nothing but their own pleasure are a fixture of the movies. Though there are a few staples of the franchise that have reappeared throughout the decades, the latest film adds a few new ones to the canon as well.
The Cenobites in Hellraiser follow Pinhead, also known as the Priest, as they always have—though she is now a woman played by The L Word: Generation Q's Jamie Clayton, who does justice to Doug Bradley's long-beloved interpretation of the character. She is ed by the Chatterer, played by Jason Liles, who is one of the oldest and best-known Cenobites. Two new ones include the Weeper and the Gasp, played by Selina Lo and Yinka Olorunnife, who add fascinating new layers to the group of demonic creatures and leave fans with plenty of speculation regarding their once-human backstories.
Screen Rant spoke to Jason Liles, Selina Lo, and Yinka Olorunnife about how they got into the skin and minds of the Chatterer, the Gasp, and the Weeper respectively—as well as how they step into the legacy of Cenobites who have come before them.
Hellraiser Cast Spills Cenobite Secrets
The response to Hellraiser thus far has been phenomenal, and it is well deserved. What was it been like for you to dive into the fandom and see how people are reacting to your Cenobites?
Jason Liles: From the moment I saw the first reactions after it was screened at Fantastic Fest in Texas, and then when we were all there and got to see it at Beyond Fest together, fans are saying they want more. "We want sequels! It's the best one since the first or the second one. It's the best one ever!" It's very surreal.
It's what we were hoping when we were making it; we were putting in our blood, sweat, and tears for it. We make it for our enjoyment, and it's a ton of fun to make this, but we make it for the fans too. We're like, "We hope they enjoy it," so to see specifically the Hellraiser and horror fans loving it is very rewarding and very surreal. I'm just very grateful to be a part of it.
Selena, I believe the last time Screen Rant spoke to you on the red carpet, you hadn't seen the film yet. How do you feel about your own experience in the Hellraiser franchise after seeing the final product?
Selina Lo: I just felt incredibly honored after watching it. It was just such a wonderful feeling, knowing the response that we've gotten from the fans. We all worked incredibly hard, but I have to say that there was so much work even before we as actors came on. It took months of design, for the prosthetics team to physically make the costumes and all the talented makeup artists. David's vision and the incredible writers created these characters, and I'm grateful for the positive response that everyone who's worked so hard is getting.
Yinka, you've said your makeup process for the Weeper was relatively shorter than other Cenobites. But it's still a complicated experience, so what was your way into the Weeper? How does your mentality change as you're putting on that skin?
Yinka Olorunnife: Yeah, I'm very focused. That's me naturally, anyways. I'm a goal-setter, and when I have something on my mind, I'm going to try to achieve it. I think that part of my personality is what I brought to the Weeper as well, so the moment you get into the prosthetics, it was go time.
I was fortunate that I was one of the Cenobites that was the quickest. I think mine honestly took less than an hour, and that's even being generous. Especially compared to you know someone like Selina, who could take up to six hours. I would feel so bad for her, but in the end, they looked incredible and you could see that all the work and effort that was put into it in those six hours was well worth it. I felt bad, because that's them having to sit there and be uncomfortable. But you just embrace it, and that uncomfortable feeling helps you get into character as well.
For me, the moment I got into that van and started putting the lube on and putting one leg in, piece by piece, I just started becoming more regal and more focused. By the time it was action, here's the Weeper. So, it takes less than an hour for me to get in the zone.
After those six hours, how long are you filming for? Are you like, "I'm just taking this home. I'm just sleeping in this?"
Selina Lo: I could show you pictures. I would obviously get the suit off, but there were times that I couldn't be bothered to get all my makeup and stuff off before going home. It's so very heavy and painted on. There were times I would just fall asleep with very scary eyes! I felt so bad for the hotel staff, because I'd have remnants of blood on me, and it literally looked like I just walked in off the street out of a giant brawl.
But it was great. I had so much fun, and I completely fell in love with the makeup artists. We would have fun for a while, and then it would be the throw to the face, where I'm not allowed to move or smile. It was really hard for me, but that's the time that I would take to get into that space and get ready to be the Gasp.
You all move as something of a unit, but you have your own individual backstories and were all once humans. How much discussion did you have with David about those backstories, and how much inspiration did you pull from previous films and novels?
Jason Liles: Since the Chatterer has been around for 35 years and has been played by other people, I looked back to the original 1987 film where Nicholas Vince played him. He also wrote a short story that was illustrated by Clive Barker about the Chatterer's backstory, from when he was a boy all the way to becoming Chatterer and what happened, so we could pull from that.
But also, we all hung out so much when we were in Serbia, and we went to dinner and breakfast in the park and this museum in the fortress. The actors talked about stuff all the time, but it really came together when I got to Zoom with David Bruckner about who this Chatterer is. Yeah, we're gonna honor the old Chatterer, but finding out who he is and this one and how he moved and how he thought and where he was coming from, and what he wanted out of this script was important.
David is very specific; he knows exactly what he's looking for. He's open to collaboration, open to ideas, and he's open to playing around. But he's very specific in how to get you to where he needs you to be on set. That takes a lot of stress off you and gives you a lot of peace of mind as an actor, knowing David's going to direct us. He's the captain of the ship, and he knows exactly where we're going.
Selina, how did you explore the Gasp's dynamic with the Priest?
Selina Lo: Yeah, we discussed how I was a favorite and kind of like her right-hand woman. And we took influence from one of the original characters, so you can see the influences in the design with the throat and the type of skin habit. We discussed a lot and created something new—and like Jason was saying, David was very specific and knew what he wanted, which is so wonderful as an actor. We would try out so many things until he found that perfect way, and then I think all of that just came together.
Yinka, what was the biggest lesson that you learned while working on Hellraiser and bringing the Weeper to life?
Yinka Olorunnife: To be honest, patience. This is the first role that I'd done as a character in full prosthetics, and I wasn't the only one in prosthetics. Patience was probably the biggest thing, because you had to be patient with makeup, and patient on set because David is very specific—which I love. He's such a brilliant director, but it takes time getting the shot.
For example, there's a scene where we get introduced to Weeper, where she takes the blade from her eye and puts it in Menaker's mouth. The way you're feeling in the costume is so uncomfortable, but you've got to get into the zone where you just ignore that uncomfortable feeling. It's not there; it's not happening. But then you're repeating the movements, and making sure that the pin out of the eye is perfect and looks amazing. The way I grab her face has to be elegant.
It is just having patience with yourself, having patience on set, having patients in the makeup, and all of that. It really taught me a lot as I'm mentally getting into that headspace, knowing that we are creating art here. It doesn't matter how uncomfortable you are. This is art, and this is beautiful. And you learn to just be proud that, even if you don't get it the first take or first few takes, it's okay. You will get there. I think patience is the biggest lesson I learned with this one.
The movements of the Cenobites are almost their own dance in a way. Do you guys have a demonic movement class, or was there an individual process for how you each discovered the movement of your character?
Selina Lo: I think we all individually had workshops with David. There was a camera setup, and we would test various types of walks. Then he would throw different directions at us until we found the perfect walk for each of the Cenobites.
Finally, I hope there is more Hellraiser. Have you guys heard anything about what's next for you? What do you want to be next?
Jason Liles: I've talked with David about it, and I just told him, "Look, if Chatterer somehow comes back, let's make it happen. If he doesn't, I want to be something else. I just want to come back to this world." And I know David has said in interviews that he's ready to make a sequel. He's ready to make sequels, and the other writers have said that as well. Ben [Collins] and Luke [Piotrowski], they've been like, "Man, we would love the chance to do another one."
I think everybody involved in all their lanes of making this feel that they can do whatever they did on that one even better on another one. I learned a lot from it, and I know David's talked about that. It's a lot, having to juggle all these different areas; all these different departments, all the practical effects, and dealing with the timing of it. So, I would really love to see what David and the writers and the entire team come up with for the story. Hopefully, we get to come back and dive into that world a little bit more, now that fans are wanting a sequel. I think that'd be so much fun.
As far as specifics, I don't know. I don't know whose thumbs up that is, but whoever it is, they're like, "Yeah, let's make another one."
About Hellraiser
A reinvention of Clive Barker’s 1987 horror classic from director David Bruckner in which a young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites, a group of sadistic supernatural beings from another dimension.
Check out our other Hellraiser interviews here:
- Jamie Clayton & David Bruckner
- Brandon Flynn & Odessa A’zion
- Adam Faison & Drew Starkey
- Hiam Abbass & Goran Visnjic
Hellraiser is now streaming on Hulu.
