Candyman Star Tony Todd Recalls Earning $1,000 Per Bee Sting While Filming Movie: 'Bring It On!'
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Everett Tony Todd in Candyman (1992)
Tony Todd's Candyman paycheck was as sweet as honey.
With the 1992 horror classic recently turning 30, Todd — who originated the sinister titular villain in the film, and appeared in two sequels in 1995 and 1999 — opened up to Entertainment Tonight about how he was paid around $1,000 for every time he was stung by a bee while filming.
Fans of the film will remember that bees played a major role in one of the more famous, spine-chilling scenes, when Todd's Candyman is shown kissing Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) with a mouth full of the insects.
"The bees were the worst nemesis," said the actor, 67.
But due to the sting-payment clause in his contract, "I didn't mind it," Todd added. "I'm going like, 'Bring it on!' "
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Everett Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen in Candyman (1992)
"I had a great lawyer at the time and we got paid," he quipped, revealing that his total sting count came out to 27.
On the other hand, Madsen, 61, is extremely allergic to bees — to the point where they had "paramedics on the set," just in case, "which didn't make [her] feel very confident."
"But the bees that were on me were baby bees so they can sting but they said they are less likely to," the actress old ET. "Then you had to sit for a good 20-25 minutes while [the bee wrangler] vacuums them off you."
Madsen stars as grad student Helen in the 1992 flick, which sees her character studying the mysterious legend of the Candyman — and eventually, being hunted by him — amid a backdrop of Chicago's since-demolished Cabrini-Green public housing project.
Everett Tony Todd in Candyman (1992)
While Madsen did not appear alongside Todd in 1995's Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and 1999's direct-to-video Candyman 3: Day of the Dead, she reprised her role of Helen via a voice and archive-image cameo in 2021's Candyman.
A direct theatrical sequel to the original film, last year's Candyman was directed by Nia DaCosta and written by DaCosta, 32, Win Rosenfeld and Jordan Peele.
Of the new film, star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II admitted to PEOPLE last year that he "couldn't have told you the plot of the (original) movie at all" when he was invited to join the cast — "But I could have told you the myth of Candyman."
"So I think it's a nod to that story, about how certain parts of it, some of the more impressive parts, really stood the test of time," he added. "And I think that's why a lot of people are really excited about this, because it gave them that visceral feeling."
