Hellraiser: What Happened To Doug Bradley After Playing The Original Pinhead
Actor Doug Bradley plays Pinhead, the de facto leader of the pain-obsessed Cenobite creatures, in the first eight "Hellraiser" movies. In the series' ninth, tenth, and eleventh entries, new actors take on the iconic role, most recently including Jamie Clayton in Hulu's 2022 franchise reboot. In fact, Bradley himself was interested in seeing Clayton in "Hellraiser" once he learned that she would be succeeding him as Pinhead.
Nowadays, Bradley is doing plenty more than just speaking to the media about the "Hellraiser" franchise. One notable gig that Bradley has maintained since the conclusion of his tenure as Pinhead is narration on a few albums by English metal band Cradle of Filth. The first time he worked with them was on "Midian" in 2000, at which point he still had a few "Hellraiser" films ahead of him. He then appeared on "Thornography" in 2006 — one year after his final appearance as Pinhead in the film series — "Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder" in 2008, and their latest album "Existence Is Futile" in 2021.
Fortunately for fans of Bradley's unique skillset, his work after "Hellraiser" isn't relegated to just short narrative passages on recordings of metal songs. Rather, Bradley still maintains a healthy performing career even in his old-ish age.
Doug Bradley is a voice actor and occasional screen performer
Since the eighth "Hellraiser" film, subtitled "Hellworld," Pinhead actor Doug Bradley has remained a somewhat frequent presence in horror movies, though none of the projects benefiting from his involvement boast quite as big of a cultural footprint as "Hellraiser." Bradley's horror filmography since 2005 includes "Book of Blood" — based on stories by "Hellraiser" director Clive Barker — "Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines," and "Scream Park," among plenty of other projects.
Unsurprisingly, given the importance of his signature deep voice to his portrayal of Pinhead, Bradley also works regularly as a voice actor. His recent vocal performances include work on the MMORPG "Star Wars: The Old Republic," characters in all three animated "Howard Lovecraft" films, and the "Dota: Dragon's Blood" Netflix series based on the hit "Dota 2" video game. He even reprised the role of Pinhead in horror game "Dead by Daylight."
While far less frequently, Bradley sometimes works on projects that are neither horror nor animated. Perhaps most notably, Bradley plays Joe Chill, the man accused of killing Bruce Wayne (David Miller)'s parents decades prior to the show's start in an episode of "Gotham Knights." So, while Bradley may have retired from the role that will likely forever define his career, he's still plenty active in the film, animation, and video game industries to this day.