Tom Rhys Harries has revealed he had to 'leave his dignity at the door' when auditioning for the role of Clayface in the new DC film.
The Welsh actor, 36, plays Matt Hagen, a rising Hollywood star whose life is derailed after a night out leaves him disfigured and transformed into the clay-based villain. Speaking to Metro, Harries said the audition process required a certain mindset.
'Listen, acting sort of shakes hand with being like the most ridiculous thing sometimes, so you kind of have to leave your dignity at the door,' he said. 'You gotta go for it, man!'
A 'fairly standard' casting process
Despite the larger-than-life nature of the role, Harries described his casting as a 'fairly standard process'. He recalled an early moment of intuition: 'I'm not very woo-woo, but I remember having a moment, really early on, of going, "That feels like something." And I didn't know any of the details of the project, I just knew there was a script called Clayface.'
After a read-through with casting director Lucy Bevan, he met director James Watkins for coffee in Barnes, where they 'just clicked'. Harries felt there was 'very little resistance to an entry point to it'.
Body horror and practical effects
The film leans heavily into body horror, with faces ripped, tongues torn out, and eyelids fused together. Harries described the experience as 'intense' and noted that horror works best as a communal experience. 'If you go to the cinema and it gets a bit too heavy, you can always reserve the right to cover your eyes,' he suggested.
One of the film's key images—Hagen melting into a bathtub—was part of the project from the start. Harries said he saw 'a tiny little model me melted in a bathtub' at Legacy Effects studios in LA, which designed the prosthetics.
The actor praised the practical approach, noting that the maximum time spent on any look was about four hours, compared to the 12-hour sessions Jacob Elordi reportedly endured for 'Frankenstein'. He also mentioned his ADHD as a challenge during long make-up sessions, but said he was 'surprised every day' by the work of prosthetic artists Adrian Rigby and Dixie George.
Clayface's future and box office pressure
Harries described Clayface as 'a Greek tragedy in three parts', with its horror coming 'from the psychological breakdown of a man'. He expressed curiosity about audience reactions, saying, 'I'm really intrigued to see what the audience thinks and whether or not they deem his actions justified.'
On a potential clash with other DC heroes, Harries was confident: 'I think Clayface could demolish Batman. I think, ultimately, when Matt gets a hold of his powers, he is so powerful that he could take on anybody – Batman, Superman… You name it!'
Clayface is the next DCU film after 'Supergirl', which grossed $126.4 million (£94.4m) and was publicly acknowledged by Peter Safran as not meeting box office expectations. Harries expressed pride in the film, saying, 'Making a good feature film is really, really difficult. It's a miracle that any film is made.' He added that ultimately the film belongs to the audience: 'It's ready to hand over. And then it doesn't belong to me anymore, it doesn't belong to Watkins – it's the audience's to take ownership over.'
Clayface is in cinemas now.
