Jackie Earle Haley's Deep Freddy

Jackie Earle Haley has promised a "deeper" 'Nightmare on Elm Street' remake.

The actor is set to play Robert Englund's iconic character Freddy Krueger in the forthcoming movie and says filmmakers have done their best to pay homage to the horror franchise while still offering a fresh angle.

He said: "I think the glove is pretty familiar. It's really important for us, I think, as we're re-imagining this that there is a good, strong sense of new and fresh â€" yet there's some recognisability, you know?

"A lot of what was in that first movie is also in this movie, as far as the structure of it and how it plays out. It's a little bit deeper; we dove into Freddy's background a little bit more.

Jackie Earle Haley's deep Freddy

"It's a very similar background to what we know about him. But we dove into it a little bit more. I think it's going to be a neat homage to Wes Craven's original film."

However, the actor says his character will not show his comic side as much as Robert's incantation of the villain - unless he makes another film.

He added to MTV: "You know, I think my Freddy is a bit more serious. He's not much of a comedian.

"But I am working on my tap-dancing lessons. Just in case they do a sequel."