The Candyman Himself, Tony Todd [Episode 7]

Tony Todd is a deeply beloved horror icon with a well earned place among the pantheon of horror actors like Robert England, Kane Hodder, and Gunnar Hansen. If there was a horror Mount Rushmore, his face would certainly be on it and it is entirely because of his soulfully terrifying performance as Candyman in 1992.

The subject of Candyman has been very hot in the past couple weeks ever since Jordan Peele announced that his production company, MonkeyPaw, will be helming the next installation. Many people are saying it’s a reboot but according to Variety it will be a spiritual sequel to the original, and will return audiences to the original location of Cabrini Greene.

A lot of people, myself included, are pretty relieved that this is not going to be a remake or a reboot - because we’re sick of complete reimaginings of our beloved horror properties. However, as fans, a lot of us still want more from the original films but we want to see new life breathed into them - different perspectives, different directors, different storylines but hopefully in this case, not different actors. It has not been announced yet but, my fingers are tightly crossed in hoping that Tony Todd will return as Candyman.

The truth is, nobody could have pulled off such a memorably chilling performance as Tony Todd, and nobody else could possibly do justice to the hook-handed boogeyman that Tony turned into an icon, singlehandedly.

Tony just accepted a lifetime achievement award at The New York Horror Film Festival for his body of work across such films as Platoon, The Night of the Living Dead remake, The Crow, Candyman, The Final Destination Series, The Hatchet Series, and most recently Hell Fest.

Speaking to him was a tremendous honor, we talked a lot about his acting process, music, movies, horror and he gave us his two cents on Jordan Peele’s Candyman.

You can get in touch with Tony on Twitter @TonyTodd54 and @Tonytoddofficial on instagram where you can find announcements on all his projects and appearances.

Top pieces of insight from Tony Todd:

• Be Well Rounded. Tony emphasized that his acting training included a multitude of different disciplines that seemingly were unrelated to acting like ballroom dancing, horseback riding, fencing, all of which deepend his understanding of movement, art, and ultimately served his acting, because exposure to all of these disciplines taught him larger concepts about humanity that better enabled him to find truth in the scripts he read and the parts he played. This is a huge concept that a lot of artists miss. To this day he frequently attends multiple museums and travels extensively. Actors, directors, writers - creatives of all stripes thrive best when they are exposed to multiple cultural disciplines. So go to museums, travel, immerse yourself in different things that enable you to grow you as a person, it all serves your art at the end of the day.

• Find a partner who gets it. Acting along with just about any creative endeavor, is incredibly difficult, and requires long stretches of time away from home and years of uncertainty. When seeking a partner, it behooves you to find someone who can support you emotionally and not discourage or distract you from your craft or your pursuit. It’s easy to get bogged down by the minutia of reality which compounds into major digressions that take you away from your work. Find someone who can understand the struggle, and the hours and energy spent on your project and can give you the fuel to keep going. Not someone who’s going to nag, guilt, or distract you from your mission.
• Trust the process - There’s no expectation on when you’re supposed to excel or bloom. Tony was 32 when he was given his first big break in Oliver Stone’s Platoon and 38 when he got his signature role in Candyman. It’s a perilous business and you can’t lose sight of that. As Tony says, don’t suddenly give up on what you spent years building. You never know when it’s going to happen, so all you can do is trust the process, and be prepared.