The Cenobites Reveal Their Performance Secrets [Interview]
David Bruckner’s 2022 retelling of Hellraiser brings us not only Jamie Clayton as our Hell Priest, but also a new generation of Cenobites with carved-up flesh and pearl-covered piercings. While we do see the return of franchise favorite The Chatterer, we get a series of new creatures whose flesh as been twisted into impossible shapes and forms.
Dread Central was able to sit down with the Cenobites, specifically Jason Liles (The Chatterer), Selina Lo (The Gasp), and Yinka Olorunnife (The Weeper). We discussed their relationships with Hellraiser, those suits, learning how to walk as a Cenobite, and more.
Dread Central: What was your relationship with Hellraiser before you got this job?
Jason Liles (The Chatterer): I had never seen them because I was not allowed to watch movies like that when I was a little kid. And I was born the year the original came out, so I was very young. But the first time I watched them, I watched the first two.
I watched Hellraiser before the audition and, and just loved them. But before that, my memory of it is in Blockbuster as a kid walking around, seeing what we’re gonna rent today, and seeing that VHS box in the same spot, generally in the horror section every single time. I felt like if I looked at it too long, I was gonna get in trouble or something. It terrified me. I didn’t wanna know what it was about. And so now hopefully kids hear about this or see a picture of the Chatterer on the internet on their phone, and they have a nightmare. It’s full circle.
Selina Lo (The Gasp): I’d seen it probably around 13, or 14, just because I wasn’t allowed to when I was super little. I was basically only exclusively allowed to watch really violent action movies. <laugh> I was obviously familiar with Hellraiser and, you know, the poster and Pinhead. It had always just been something that I’d built up in my head as just terrifying because that imagery is so powerful. And then I watched it and realized, “Oh, I was right. Yeah, it is terrifying.” <laugh>
Yinka Olorunnife (The Weeper): Yeah, I was a newbie, to be honest. During the audition process, I recognized the movie poster and heard the name Pinhead. But growing up, we weren’t allowed to watch horror <laugh>. I think the first time I watched a horror film was maybe when I was.
So it was during the audition process that I realized what I was. But I knew the name and I knew what the franchise was. So that’s when I started doing my research and then watching the movies and studying it and trying to understand the lore and everything. And fast forward, what is it like a year and a half later, <laugh>, I just feel like, How did I never watch this growing up? I love Hellraiser now, and obviously being part of the franchise. But that aside, I’m telling everyone, “Have you seen Hellraiser, have you seen your originals? The movie’s crazy. Go give it a watch.” <laugh>
DC: Also, Yinka, you are a professional basketball player, right? Until pretty recently, and now you’re a Cenobite. And then also Selina, you’re trained professionally in martial arts as well, correct? That’s so cool to take the physicality that I’m assuming that both of you had to learn and translate that into being a Cenobite. Was having that kind of training helpful in becoming these creatures?
YO: Yeah, absolutely. During my audition process, what David kept saying is, “I love your movement. You understand your body and what you’re doing with your body and our suits.” What people don’t realize is our suits are so heavy.
They are so heavy. It’s about what they say, anywhere from like 40 to 60 kilos that we had on our body suits. It’s like wearing weights on you. So you had to be physically fit to be able to walk in it for hours. So personally for me now, I was in the gym quite often during filming. And once you had it on, you had it on. Your muscles, your neck, your arms, your legs, everything was aching.
But for my particular character, I walked on steel rods. Then I couldn’t see out of my eyes as well because I had blades in my eyes. So basically, me being able to know where I am at any time without seeing or feeling. That came from my athletic background. So I knew the number of steps I needed to take to get to a certain point. That came naturally to me. And I think a lot of that was because of my athletic background. Definitely <laugh>
SL: I definitely feel like it helped a lot. Having a background in martial arts and dance just means that I’m just very in tune with my body and movement. I feel like what’s amazing is, you know, the Cenobites command and have such a presence, often without even speaking. And that’s to do with physicality. And like Yinka said, the costumes were challenging. They were made like silicone, but it was very strong. And so every movement was a workout because it’s like resistance bands. But I find that also helped with the character. It had this binding feel and the whole pain aspect that the character enjoys.
I mean, it was very physical and it’s so strange because action movies are spontaneous, with fast movements. This is the opposite. Everything’s super slow, very controlled. We had lots of workshops, even just with the walk. People don’t realize the amount of time in just creating the movement for the Cenobites. It’s very complex behind what you see for those few moments on screen. It’s very physical.
DC: I was going to ask about the walking specifically. So was there a Cenobite school that you guys went to develop the movement and get into that head space?
JL: That would’ve been really cool. I know a lot of films do that. But, for Hellraiser, I never actually even got to be on set with Yinka or Selina. Chatterer is just kind of his own thing, except for being on set with Jamie as the priest. My experience with that was before I was ever on set, I did a makeup test in like an hour outside of Belgrade where they shot the scene where they break into the safe.
So in that area, we worked with David for an hour just walking. And I have a video of just literally walking from one piece of tape on the floor to another piece of tape. He’s just directing me through it, how to do it differently, how to find the character. And that’s where he found just putting his shoulders back and his elbows back. He described it for me as imagining you’re walking down the aisle in a processional. You’re almost gliding. And even when I come up the stairs, it’s not step, step, step, step. It’s as if he’s just gliding up the stairs. That’s how the Chatterer moves and that’s how we found that.
SL: It was the same situation where I worked with David once I was out in Serbia and literally just walking back and forth, taking different direction notes until we found that sweet spot of how we saw the Gasp walking. And I remember thinking, “it’s so crazy because it’s just walking”. It’s not an intricate fight scene. I remember thinking, “Oh no, I’m gonna forget. I’m gonna how to walk” and I would practice and record myself.
YO: Same.
DC: They have such a presence. I feel like that’s such a big part of what makes the Cenobites so scary, especially in this one. That deliberate movement is, I think, such a big part of what makes you so terrifying.
YO: So my audition process actually was for the role of the Hell Priest. Throughout the entire time, I had created these regal elements of my walk and poise. My hand placement was very gentle. And so when I eventually got the role of The Weeper, everything was so brand new to me. I wanted to keep that regalness, but how else can I be unique in my movement?
JL: One thing I’ll add in real quick is, everyone had different things going on. A lot of us were wearing feet that were silicon rubber. Once you start to sweat into those, your feet kind of slip and slide around inside of them. So you have to walk very controlled. But then some of us had different eyesight. Zachary [The Asphyx] had a head pulled back with skin over completely blind and had to move that way in those feet like that. It was a lot more than just walking. Then there’s extreme heat or it’s freezing cold outside, so it. And then you’re having to act and like make sure you hit your marks and hit your beats.
SL: It’s true what Jason was saying because we couldn’t see. I had just these contact lenses, so it makes it hard because of all the black. So then when you are doing night shoots, it’s already dark and you’ve got to get the walk right. You can’t be looking down because it’s just not the character. We were counting steps to make sure. A couple times I think I tripped over the stairs because you just can’t see.
Hellraiser is streaming now on Hulu.
Categorized:Interviews News
