Another installment in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise didn’t seem very appealing, especially once we heard that the new film is a prequel. But that was only until French horror directing duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo came aboard, inspiring a healthy amount of optimism. The upcoming film is moving along quite nicely, and has just cast its most important role: that of the chainsaw-wielding psychopath, Leatherface.

The Wrap reports that Sam Strike has been cast as Leatherface in the upcoming prequel, appropriately titled Leatherface. Strike is known best for his roles on the UK shows EastEnders and M.I.High. Leatherface will bring Strike to the U.S. for the first time, casting him in the role first made iconic in the original 1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Strike will play Jackson, the young boy who grows up to become Leatherface. Jackson is such a norm-core name.

This isn’t the first time that Leatherface has gotten his own prequel/origin story—Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning was released in 2006 and tried to show a more empathetic side of the murderous character, who was born on the floor of a meat-packing factory in a small town, where his family raises him to become a killing machine.

The new film follows last year’s reboot, which introduced Alexandra Daddario as the long-lost cousin of Leatherface and once again tried to make the character seem sympathetic and misunderstood. He’s a lovable psycho, really.

Maury and Bustillo, who previously directed French horror films Inside, Among the Living, and the still-unreleased 2011 film Livid, will helm the new prequel, which takes place in the ‘70s.

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