Slasher maniac Art the Clown is back, and so is actor David Howard Thornton in the highly anticipated slasher sequel Terrifier 2.
Following his gruesome demise in the first film, a sinister presence has brought Art back to life to rein terror on the residents of Miles County. On Halloween night, he returns to the unassuming town and sets his sights on fresh prey: a teenage girl and her little brother.
Bloody Disgusting, Cinedigm, and Iconic Events are bringing Damien Leone’s Terrifier 2 to theaters nationwide on October 6 – get your tickets now! Ahead of the release, Thornton chatted with Bloody Disgusting about how changes in the makeup process evolved the killer clown in this sequel, along with an increase in the actor’s confidence.
Thornton said of his mindset coming into Terrifier 2, “I think I was a lot more excited this time around. I think there’s a little bit more confidence in the character, in what we were going to be doing with this, especially after I read the script. That was a personal challenge we took on from the beginning; how are we going to surpass what we already did in the first film, especially with the infamous hacksaw scene? Damien just went crazy writing this script, and I think he outdid himself.
“When I read this thing, I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is going to be epic.'”
“I was stoked,” Thornton continued, “When I took on Art in the first film, I was taking over for Mike Giannelli, and I thought, ‘Oh boy. How are the fans going to respond to me? Are they going to like what I’m doing? Are they going to hate it? Are they going to prefer his version? Are they going to be upset?’ After seeing the feedback, I’m like, ‘Good. Okay. They like what I’m doing with the character.’ So, I’m a lot more confident this time, and I think even that translates to the character. I think Art himself is a lot more confident this time around, too, since he came back from the dead. He discovered, ‘I’m a lot more invulnerable than I thought.’ That’s the route we were taking with it; I guess you could say.”
When asked about the process of getting into character, Thornton explained how that’s become easier: “The makeup transformation’s pretty easy for me because I’m used to crazy makeup jobs and stuff like that. I started off doing children’s theater, and I was usually playing some animal or something like that. I would be in the makeup chair for hours; I’m used to that. We fine-tuned that whole makeup experience over the years because when we first started, it took about four-plus hours to do all the makeup. We’ve gotten it down to an hour or so now because we changed the type of makeup we’re using; well, the mask. It was initially a gelatin mask, and now we’re using a foam latex mask. It’s much easier to apply, so much lighter, and doesn’t fall apart nearly as easily as the gelatin. My mouth would always disintegrate because of any moisture that got on there. The teeth would make me drool, so then it would fall apart. Then we would have to break for about an hour for Damien to fix everything.
“That was an annoyance, so we switched to the foam latex near the end of Terrifier 2‘s filming. That was a godsend to us. It just made everything so much easier. Now, that’s part of the transformation process. Acting-wise, it wasn’t too hard for me to do this because I have a huge love for silent characters and physical actors. I grew up watching the silent film era of film, like Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harpo Marx, especially. But also, I have a love for Mr. Bean. I used to watch Mr. Bean videos over and over and over and over and over.”
Art may be a rather unlovable killer, but Thornton adores playing him.
He tells Bloody Disgusting, “I love this guy. He’s such a mischievous little bastard, and he’s such a fun character to play. This is the kind of character I’ve always wanted to play, too. It’s like when I was watching the Mr. Bean videos back in the day… I wanted to play a character like Mr. Bean. This is my version of Mr. Bean, or like a Harpo Marx type of character, but it’s my own twist on it.”
While portraying Art may bring Thornton joy, he clarifies one thing: do not pity his deranged character. The actor shares one vital piece of advice director Damien Leone told him about his character: Art is evil, full stop.
“One thing he did express to me is he never wants anybody to feel sorry for the character. He doesn’t want him to be one of those sympathetic villains,” Thornton explains. You kind of feel sorry for Jason Voorhees because of what happened to him as a child. [Leone] does not want people to have any sympathy for [Art]. He is not a character to pity at all. He is just evil incarnate. I even pictured him coming out of the womb and strangling his mom with his umbilical cord. He is just inherently evil.
“There’s also a great line in the first film with the cat lady, where she says he does this because he finds it funny. Well, that nails the character right there. A lot of other horror slashers do things out of vengeance or some other weird fetish. But to him, it’s just pure amusement and joy. He’s the anti-clown because clowns are here to bring joy and amusement to other people. Art’s here to bring pain and misery to other people for his amusement. That’s all I really have to know about the character right there in many ways.“
You can head to www.Terrifier2TheMovie.com for current listings or check Fandango or your local theater chain to get Terrifier 2 tickets near you RIGHT NOW!
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