For Clayface director James Watkins, an action sequence only works when it says something meaningful about the character at its center.
Rather than relying on spectacle for spectacle’s sake, Watkins wanted the action in Clayface to feel deeply connected to Matt Hagen, played by Tom Rhys Harries, and his unusual journey from ambitious actor to dangerous shapeshifter.
It’s like love scenes; they’re boring when they’re two people naked in bed. They’re interesting when they inform character and who these people are,” says the filmmaker. It’s the same with action sequences. They have to be imbued with character.
According to the filmmaker, generic action can quickly lead to what he calls “stunt fatigue.”
Otherwise, anyone can do anything with enough resources and enough stunts. It becomes about people punching each other and I get ‘stunt fatigue.’ I can’t bear it when heroes in movies suddenly become Navy SEALs when they’re really ordinary people.
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Matt Hagen’s Greatest Weapon Is Being an Actor
When developing Matt’s fighting style, Watkins and the stunt team kept returning to one essential fact: Matt is an actor.
It’s not that he suddenly has this incredible ability to fight – but what he does have is this ability to shift, so he can ambush people. And as a brilliant actor, his superpower has a superpower. So, it becomes about the evolution or discovery of his powers throughout the sequence.
That concept allowed the filmmakers to build action around Matt discovering his abilities in real time.
Stealth, deception, surprise. If someone punches him, and that punch happens to go through his face and the guy hits a wall, then he’s like, ‘Oh, wow!’
Instead of immediately understanding everything he can do, Matt learns alongside the audience. And, crucially, he begins having fun with it.
He’s learning as we’re learning, and there’s this dark glee when he’s learning it. That ‘dark glee’ was important to me. The playful tone. The ‘permission to enjoy.’
That enjoyment, however, also makes Matt’s eventual choices more unsettling.
When you are enjoying the ride with Matt, laughing with him, it makes it much more complicated when he crosses a line!
Matt Reeves Calls Clayface an Anti-Hero Horror Story
Producer Matt Reeves, director of 2022’s The Batman, sees Clayface as more than a traditional comic book origin film.
I think what’s exciting about this kind of origin story is this idea of doing an anti-hero horror story, Reeves says.
The film mixes several genres, including romance, horror, thriller, and revenge.
where you’re going through a journey with someone and you’re seeing them go into areas that are very… I mean, on top of being a combination of a romance and a sort of horror thriller, it’s also really a revenge story, says Reeves.
For Reeves, the tension comes from following a protagonist whose actions become increasingly difficult to defend.
So, to go on that journey where you’re on that razor’s edge – you know this person’s doing the wrong things but you’re digging into the psychology of it, along with the horror of his actions
He also praises Watkins for bringing that complicated emotional balance to the screen.
that’s a very exciting way to get into the Clayface story. And I think James Watkins did an incredible job with that.
How Clayface Became Part of the DCU
The idea for the film began taking shape after Reeves completed The Batman.
Although that film was not a Batman origin story, Reeves realized its early-career setting offered opportunities to explore the beginnings of Gotham City’s famous villains.
We began thinking it’d be really exciting to develop a bunch of stories that could be genre stories that related to the Rogues’ Gallery characters and explore their origins. And one of the things I got very excited about was the idea of looking for ways to do really cool, smaller horror films.
One direction immediately appealed to him: smaller-scale horror films centered on familiar DC characters.
Screenwriter Mike Flanagan then approached Reeves with a particular passion for Clayface, especially the version featured in the animated Batman series.
As development continued, the film evolved into what Reeves describes as a tragic love story with echoes of The Fly and a horror thriller.
After James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, Reeves and the team pitched them the project.
They loved it so much, they wanted to make it one of the DCU movies.
Naomie Ackie on Caitlyn Corr’s Dangerous Ambition
Naomie Ackie, who plays Dr. Caitlyn Corr, describes joining Clayface as a longtime dream fulfilled.
It’s genuinely a dream come true. I have wanted to be in a comic book film since I was like 11!
For Ackie, one of the most compelling elements is the connection between Caitlyn and Matt. Though one is a scientist and the other an actor, both crave recognition and accomplishment.
They are really hungry for acclaim, for being noticed for doing something that makes a difference, especially for Caitlyn.
That shared ambition ultimately creates a dangerous combination.
There’s a bit of a mad scientist about Caitlyn. It’s the similarity in their characters and their desperation to be seen and acknowledged that leads to ambition really getting the better of her.
Tom Rhys Harries Gets Under the Skin of a Shapeshifter
For Tom Rhys Harries, playing a character capable of becoming virtually anyone or anything presented an unusual acting challenge.
I was aware of Clayface as a character from watching the Batman cartoon series when I was younger, Harries says.
The question became how to find the human being underneath such extraordinary abilities.
When we meet Matt in this movie, he has no concept of Clayface. He’s just trying to maintain his life.
At the beginning of the story, Matt appears to have everything he wants, including an ideal career and lifestyle. Harries became interested in what drives that ambition and what might be hiding beneath it.
What I ended up thinking a lot about is the concept of running towards something or running away from something, he explains.
As Matt’s circumstances change, so do his priorities.
I think Matt realizes throughout the film what his priorities are, and what happens to him sort of clarifies certain things for him, which in turn drives him to do the things he does.
With horror, romance, revenge, dark comedy, and character-driven action all colliding, Clayface offers a twisted new look at one of Gotham City’s most distinctive villains.
Clayface is now showing in cinemas and is rated R-18. Distributed locally by Warner Bros. Pictures PH.
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