Terrifier Star Improvised Art The Clown's Creepiest Audition - Nova Media
Think you had a tough time trying out for your local improv group? Just be glad you weren't a scene partner with the "Terrifier" star.
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00:00 Think you had a tough time trying out for your local improv group?
00:04 Just be glad you weren't a scene partner with the Terrifier star.
00:08 Art the Clown is fast becoming a new slasher icon.
00:11 Though he's yet to star in a truly massive box office hit, his blood-drenched exploits
00:15 in Terrifier 2 went a long way towards building his reputation as the slasher killer of the
00:20 modern age.
00:22 Damian Leone, the creator of the franchise and director of the first two installments,
00:26 has made a name for himself by depicting scenes of such utter depravity that audiences have
00:30 reportedly struggled not to pass out.
00:38 But it would be selling short the efforts of the man behind the makeup, David Howard
00:42 Thornton, whose playful and sinister performance as Art in both Terrifier and its sequel has
00:47 helped establish the character as one of the most oddly compelling slasher figures of modern
00:51 times.
00:52 For Leone, that potential was there from the moment Howard Thornton auditioned.
00:56 The actor discussed his first audition for Art with Bloody Flicks, where he claimed it
00:59 was the most interesting and fun audition he'd ever been to.
01:02 "I had seen a notice for the part on an audition site, calling for skinny men with
01:07 clowning physical comedy experience to audition for the role of Art."
01:11 When he landed the audition, however, he wasn't provided with any scripts, scenes, or even
01:15 lines.
01:16 Instead, Thornton was simply asked to show up to the meeting with Damian Leone and the
01:19 producers and didn't know what to expect.
01:22 He continued, "They asked me to improvise a scene as Art on the spot.
01:26 This was when I was glad that I had a lot of training in improv, since I was put on
01:29 the spot like that.
01:30 If I remember correctly, I made up a scene where I walked in and snuck up behind this
01:34 victim, stabbing her in the head and ended up sawing off her head."
01:39 Simply miming this decapitation wasn't what got Howard Thornton the part.
01:43 The actor provided just a touch of extra pseudo-comedic genius to his improv.
01:47 The actor told Bloody Flicks how he proceeded to pick up the imaginary head and pretended
01:50 to have a conversation with it.
01:52 He continued, "I ended up tasting the blood leaking out of it.
01:56 This was not to my liking, so I whipped out a salt shaker and seasoned the head to my
01:59 liking.
02:00 I then threw the head in my bag of tricks, tossed the bag over my shoulder, and skipped
02:04 out of the room.
02:05 They yelled 'cut' and I noticed Damian had his head in the table in a fit of giggles."
02:11 After performing that bit of depraved improv, Howard Thornton was basically guaranteed the
02:15 starring role in Terrifier, though he had to wait a while to find out for sure.
02:19 As the actor remembered it, "They asked me if I was comfortable with enduring hours of
02:23 makeup applications and if I was up for coming in for a makeup test, and told me that they
02:27 would be in touch.
02:28 A few months later, they called me in for the tests and told me that I had the part."
02:33 Terrifier started shooting soon after, and Howard Thornton quickly proved himself capable
02:37 in the role, displaying much of the same humor that landed him the role in the first place.
02:42 Since then, that humor has come to define much of the character, helping lead the franchise
02:46 to its recent success.
02:48 2016's Terrifier went largely unnoticed, but is infamous among some horror fans.
02:54 Terrifier 2 then arrived in 2022, with even more ultra-violence, and proved to be almost
02:59 too brutal for even seasoned horror fans.
03:02 Still, it managed to finally gain Leone and the franchise some recognition, making $15.7
03:08 million on a $250,000 budget, and leading to some wider cultural influence.
03:13 "We have to show the audience things that they would never have the balls to show."
03:18 Before Art the Clown starred in his own film with 2016's Terrifier, he was one of many
03:23 twisted characters Damian Leone devised to bring his nightmarish visions to life in a
03:28 series of short films.
03:30 Originally portrayed by Mike Giannulli, Art showed up in the short films The Ninth Circle
03:33 and 2011's Terrifier, before becoming the central ghoul in 2013's All Hallows' Eve.
03:40 But when it came time for the first official Terrifier movie, Leone switched things up,
03:44 casting relative newcomer David Howard Thornton in the role.
03:47 The director created Art the Clown as somewhat of an amalgamation of iconic horror killers,
03:52 from Freddy to Michael Myers.
03:53 But there was an extra element of sadistic humor bound up in the bloodthirsty clown,
03:58 which set him apart from your typical emotionless killing machine.
04:01 As Leone previously told Slashfilm, "Art thinks what he's doing is funny because he's laughing.
04:07 It's that humanity that comes through from the character, believe it or not, that I think
04:10 is what people really gravitate towards so much.
04:12 I think it's that sense of humor that really attracts him to people, or people to him."
04:17 While both Terrifier and Terrifier 2 are basically wall-to-wall ultraviolence, there's certainly
04:22 something about Art's incongruous cheekiness that makes both films so utterly disturbing,
04:26 yet grimly comedic.
04:27 And it's fair to say that David Howard Thornton defined much of this aspect of the character,
04:32 even when it put him in danger.
04:35 David Howard Thornton recalled how filming for Terrifier started in October of 2015,
04:40 during which time the actor was almost shot by New Jersey police officers, after some
04:44 locals mistook his fake blood-splattered clothing for the real thing.
04:48 But despite almost meeting his own demise during filming, Howard Thornton seemingly
04:52 regrets nothing about pursuing or playing Art.
04:55 As he told Bloody Flicks, "That was one of those auditions where I walked out knowing
04:59 I had the part deep down, because everything just felt right.
05:02 I'm glad my gut was right, because I have loved playing the character."
05:06 Apparently there's a scene in the upcoming Terrifier 3 that almost made Howard Thornton
05:11 sick, so we'll have to see whether he feels any different about playing the murderous
05:14 clown during the press tour for that movie.
05:17 But for now, there's no doubt the actor and his comedic abilities have been an integral
05:21 part of helping Art become one of the biggest slasher stars of the past few years.
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