Ira Heiden: A Few Moments with Freddy’s Bloody Magic Man. By Brian Kirst

Best known as the ‘original Harry Potter’ Will Stanton in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Ira Heiden has plenty of other impressive credits under his belt. With roles in everything from Elvira: Mistress of the Dark to playing a recurring character on the popular television series Alias, Heiden has embraced all his of various characters with a natural ease that has made him a stand out talent in a very difficult playing field. The generous Heiden recently took some time out of an active schedule to answer some exclusive questions for Horror Society.

Brian: Who were your first performing influences – Chevy Chase skewering the news on classic Weekend Updates – the roar of Peter Mayhew’s enraged Chewbacca – a tuba playing, tap dancing uncle

Ira: Steve Martin! I remember as a kid listening to his records… uh oh I’m getting happy feet… Grannnnn-pa bought a rubber! Which this day and age is not as funny as it was back then.

Brian: You’ve done the ‘Neapolitan’ of entertainment – drama, comedy, horror – do you approach each project with a certain ascetic or does it vary upon the circumstances of the job

Ira: I approach each job in a different manner. I also manage to bring a part of Ira in every role.

Brian: Will Stanton, your character in Dream Warriors, has been tagged as the original Harry Potter. As this was one of your first major projects, did you spend a lot of time working out a huge back story for him?

Ira: It was soooo easy playing Will Stanton because he WAS me! All I did as a kid was play tons and tons of dungeons & dragons… So my back story was easy to work on- I did some work with the wheelchair, trying to get used to it.

Brian: Can you describe the atmosphere on the Dream Warriors set a bit? It must have been interesting. There were a lot of veteran performers (Robert Englund, Priscilla Pointer, John Saxon) mingling with a cast of excited newcomers.

Ira: The atmosphere was great. Being it was my first feature, I was excited as hell! We worked through some intense hours, but the cast was in good spirits for the most part. Robert was great to work with and Bradley, Ken, Rodney, Jennifer, Penelope, Patricia… we all became good friends.

Brian: Was it tough working with the special effects and filming your death scene in Dream Warriors?

Ira: The only tough part with the death scene was that Robert’s blades were not contracting, so they had to put a 2×4 under my costume for Robert to hit… helped put more fear in my eyes, cause if he missed…

Brian: You were part of a ‘gang’, again, in Zapped Again. Was it easy to find a balance and camaraderie with your co-stars on that project?

Ira: Zapped Again was a bunch of fun to work on. The late great football player Lyle Alzado was cool! And how bad can it be working with Linda Blair! So sweet! I became good friends with Kelly Williams, Reed Rudy & Todd Eric Andrews. I felt like a bit of a vampire on the show, we did a lot of night shoots!

Brian: You reconnected with Nightmare’s Heather Langenkamp on Just the 10 of Us as a guest star. Appearing as a guest on a show can be difficult – was it easier with someone you knew as part of the equation?

Ira: Appearing on Just The Ten of Us was great. I am really about work… guest spots are fine with me. I did have a nice reunion with Heather on that show. Then we did not see each other till last year @ a horror fest in Chicago.

Brian: Do you have any vivid recollections about your experience playing Rick McCarthy on season two of Alias?

Ira: Alias… Great times as well. Michael Vartan and I were in acting class together so it was nice to work with him. Victor Garber & Jennifer were pros! My favorite was working with Terry O’Quinn. I mean he is the Stepfather for cryin’ out loud! – Such a great actor.

Brian: Lastly, any words of advice (IE: Never try to levitate a mass murderer with razors for hands) or future projects that you’d like to leave us with? And thanks – this has been better than a wisecrack from a burned maniac!

Ira: Yes, I do have advice. Words to live by….whatever you do, don’t fall asleep!