Owen Painter, the actor who played Slurp, also discussed the importance of Jell-O brains and self-flagellation.
Wednesday actor Owen Painter recently sat down with Vulture to discuss the human element he brought to his performance as Slurp the zombie—and of course, what it was like eating the disembodied Professor Orloff (Christopher Lloyd)’s brain.
As Painter stated, “I was told to act out ‘You’ve been sitting for a thousand years and your voice box doesn’t work, and water’s going to fix that, so you should have a glass of water across the room, but some stuff is in your way.’ I had so much fun messing around with that and coming up with physical gags and jokes.”
Though Slurp looks like he stepped right out of 1985’s Return of the Living Dead, 1985’s Day of the Dead, or 1985’s House, Painter said his performance was largely influenced by classic depictions of Frankenstein, as well as cult-beloved German actor Klaus Kinski.
”Weirdly, I took a lot. It feels a little funny, because you point to a performance that’s so iconic, and then it’s just what you did.
