The Zombie on ‘Wednesday’ Was Inspired by Klaus Kinski and Frankenstein

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. But the person in my mind the most was Klaus Kinski. He is a German actor who worked with Werner Herzog a bunch, and he’s a lunatic. He delivered some of the most gorgeous performances ever. I think he had so much energy in his body. It feels like there’s a current going through his limbs all the time. So I was trying to steal a little bit of that.”

Though Kinski never actually played Frankenstein or his monster, he did play similar roles in 1982’s Android and 1974’s The Lover of the Monster, as well as Nosferatu in 1979’s Nosferatu the Vampyre, Nosferatu a second time in 1988’s Vampire in Venice, and even Renfield in 1970’s Count Dracula.

In the article, Painter stated he channeled the actor in some creative ways. “Because of all of that wandering around and looking stupid, I came up with a sheet of funny jokes that I thought could be in the choreography, and then I had some sessions with the stunt team. They’re so knowledgeable about the athletics of everything. I would be able to bring creative ideas to them, and they would help me fine-tune the movements,” he said. “A lot of it is off the cuff in a really fun way. At one point, I showed up for a day and they just handed me the camera for POV footage. I’m holding a GoPro while I’m punching myself in the face. That was like the best day of work ever.”

As any actor worth their salt will tell you, a good scene partner will naturally elevate their performance, so it’s a bit heartbreaking to learn co-star Lloyd wasn’t actually there the day Slurp ate his character’s brains. “I was bullying a robot all day. Yeah, there was a prop head, but the mechanical bot was there and controlled by people on the crew. I don’t think a lot of it’s in the actual episode, but we had so much fun shoving the robot around. It’s almost kind of tragic. The wheels start squeaking and it feels like it’s a puppy dog.”

Though Lloyd’s head may have cost a fortune, it sounds like his brains did not. According to Painter, he was eating “some Jell-O blood mixture. It just tastes like sugar, kind of gnarly.”

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