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Actors Who Should Reprise Their Roles for the 'Thriller' Rap

GEEKS holds a casting call for actors to record Vincent Price's 'Thriller' rap.

By Jacob ElyacharPublished 6 years ago 1 min read
Top Story - October 2017
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(Video property of the MJ Quotes & FOX Broadcasting Company)

Michael Jackson’s Thriller will always be a part of any Halloween party playlist.

The spooky music video has been viewed over 10 million times on YouTube. It also has been lauded by some of the biggest media publications as “the greatest music video of all-time.”

Part of the credit should go to the legendary horror actor Vincent Prince, who voiced the Rod Temperton-written monologue halfway through the song. The late actor only performed his sinister rap in front of a studio audience during a taping of The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers.

As the song inches closer to its 35th birthday, GEEKS has assembled a potential group of actors who could record Price’s legendary monologue…if the Michael Jackson Estate decides to remix “Thriller” in 2018. But, these actors have to do the rap as their iconic villainous alter egos.

For over 25 years, Mark Hamill voiced the Clown Prince of Crime for numerous mediums such as cartoons and video games. After Hamill’s terrifying monologues in both the 2001 animated film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and in the Batman: Arkham video games, Hamill became our top candidate. In addition, Michael Jackson would definitely approve of Hamill’s Joker voiced Price’s rap. BuzzFeed revealed that Michael Jackson was supposed to write the music for the 1989 Tim Burton superhero classic before Prince got the offer. The King of Pop + the Clown of Crime would excellent combination that would lure Batman fans to iTunes.

Another actor from A Galaxy, Far, Far Away that could perform the “Thriller” rap is Ian McDiarmid, who portrayed Star Wars’ ultimate adversary: Emperor Palpatine. For five films, the Galactic Empire’s ruler gave moviegoers the chills with his menacing monologues. Not to mention, the actor has gone on record portraying the wicked tyrant once more. If he cannot play Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode IX, then this could be the next best thing!

While many 90s kids might not recognize Robert Axelrod and Barbara Goodson’s faces, they would recognize their voices. The voice actors brought classic Power Rangers villains: Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa during the popular superhero franchise’s early years. Hearing the two actors trade-off Price’s lines and the duo’s combined iconic wicked laughter at the end of the song would make Power Rangers fans scream with delight.

Harry Potter fans would be screaming with delight if Helena Bonham Carter reprised her role as the murderous witch in the future. The demented Bellatrix Lestrange would bring a whole new level of camp to the “Thriller” rap.The legendary actress brought the larger than life sea witch to life in the 1989 Disney animated classic: The Little Mermaid and in the Kingdom Hearts video game series. Ms. Carroll’s sinister vocals are on par to Mr. Price’s excellent monologue.For many MJ fans, Vincent Price’s “Thriller” was camp as Christmas. The only actor that could match the over-the-top approach is Disney’s Aladdin's Jonathan Freeman. Mr. Freeman is the only actor to not only voice Jafar in the animated film, but also portray the wicked vizier on Broadway. In addition, Mr. Freeman’s Jafar evil laugh already surpasses Mr. Price’s laugh!Long before Cate Blanchett and Angelina Jolie brought Lady Tremaine and Maleficent to life in Cinderella and Maleficent, Glenn Close stole the show as the iconic Disney villainess in the 1996 live action adaption of 101 Dalmatians. I know that hardcore Disney fans would go to iTunes in droves if they heard Ms. Close do her epic rendition of Cruella once more. Plus, her Cruella laugh is horrifyingly good!

For the past seven seasons, Robert Carlyle entertained Once Upon a Time fans with his electrifying performance as Rumpelstiltskin. While Carlyle played the subdued Mr. Gold for the first six seasons of the ABC fairy tale drama, he also portrayed the wickedly wild Dark One in flashbacks. If the Dark One’s evil laugh does not give you the goosebumps, then nothing will.

Numerous actresses have brought The Wicked Witch of the West to life since Margaret Hamilton portrayed her in The Wizard of Oz. However, Rebecca Mader made the villainous icon a multi-dimensional character during her four seasons on Once Upon a Time. Ms. Mader’s fan base would eat up this remix.
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About the Creator

Jacob Elyachar

Jacob Elyachar is an award-winning journalist, pop culture fanatic, and social media lover. He writes for both jakes-take.com and Vocal. When he is not writing, Elyachar does CrossFit, listens to music, and volunteers in his community.

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