After Eight ‘Saw’ Movies, Tobin Bell Still Has Hopes of Returning as Jigsaw — The Role That Catapulted His Net Worth
Tobin Bell admits he was never a “real fan” of the horror genre. Despite that, the actor is one of the biggest names in modern horror cinema.
Starting from 2004, Bell played Jigsaw in the Saw franchise, the highest-grossing horror franchise in film history. To date, he has made appearances in all eight of the movies in the film series.
While the franchise’s ninth movie, Spiral: From the Book of Saw hits theaters on May 14, 2021, Bell will not appear in the film. But the actor is not yet done with the franchise and hinted at his willingness to return for the role if the writing was great.
Bell As Jigsaw
Bell started acting professionally in 1979 and has appeared in over 100 movies and TV series in his 30 plus year career. Out of all these works, his career-defining work is his role of Jigsaw in Saw.
The horror franchise established Bell as an iconic horror villain who tortured his victims physically and mentally. Jigsaw, whose actual name is John Kramer, becomes a cold killer after losing his unborn son and his marriage falling apart.
As he is slowly dying because of his metastatic colon cancer, he takes it upon himself to teach people the value of life, albeit with traps and choices laced with sadistic touches.
Bell’s Jigsaw was such a hit that despite being killed in Saw III, his character continued appearing in every movie in the horror franchise, usually through flashbacks.
Bell Might Return As Jigsaw
In an interview with Comicbook.com, Bell shared he would come back to the series if the writing was excellent.
It’s about the writing, if the writing is great… I can’t, frankly, prophesize about the future. You’ll have to wait and see.
The actor further shared that the opportunity to play Kramer in the franchise had been tremendous and that the character had a vast range, which could be made full use in future movies.
Spiral: From the Book of Saw
Spiral: From the Book of Saw is the ninth movie in the Saw franchise. Initially, it was scheduled to hit the theaters in the summer of 2020 but was delayed to May 14, 2021, because of the pandemic.
The stars of the movie are Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson. The film revolves around the two trying to catch a Jigsaw copycat going after members of the police department.
The villain in the movie seems to follow the style of Jigsaw, even emulating the usage of puppets to communicate with the victims. But unlike Billy the Puppet, the antagonist in Spiral is using a puppet with a pig head.
Tobin Bell's Net Worth
Bell decided to become an actor at 22 and learned his craft at the 'Actor’s Studio.'
Throughout his long career, not only has he played parts in dozens of movies but also given his voice to characters in The Flash (2016-2017) and Boogeyman 3 (2008). He also voiced Jigsaw in the two Saw video games: Saw (2009) and Saw II: Flesh & Blood (2010).
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Bell has a net worth of $16 million.