Watkins says that casting DC’s psychologically disintegrating mush-man was a challenge—several actors vied for the role—but when he met Harries, he felt the Welsh actor had a certain “something” to him that the director could extract for the horror film. First, he had to make sure his instincts were correct. “I don’t think I’ve ever auditioned anyone that much,” he said. “There was just a sense that Tom had something and [the audition process helped] me explore the character and understand the character.” As for Clayface himself, Harries was happy to go through the grueling audition process with Watkins, which stretched, like a certain shape-shifting Arkham inmate, over three months. I did two fairly long screen tests with James,” Harries told THR. “But I’m untested in this space, so I was glad he did it with me, really, because it meant that we’d had time to workshop the thing before he got onto set.” As to what was entailed in this audition process, like if Harries was asked to squish his face to resemble billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne or make a giant cartoon mallet of his fist, Watkins and Harries didn’t say.
Clayface is DC Studios’ first live-action film to bring audiences to its universe’s Gotham City, which co-CEO Peter Safran confirms is a “gritty, dirty” place, due somewhat in part, we have to assume, to its resident vigilante remaining in the studio’s periphery. The horror film was originally pitched by Mike Flanagan, whose work on the latest Exorcist film and his busy slate of adaptations with Amazon MGM Studios ultimately pulled him away from the project. With a script rewrite by Hossein Amini (The Two Faces Of January *insert Bat-joke here*), Watkins came on board the DC project in February 2025. “It’s a rollercoaster ride,” Watkins says of Clayface. “It’s got a lot of horror, a lot of heart, and a lot of humor. It’s a full meal.”
Clayface oozes into theaters on October 23.
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