Harries and Ackie say their love for Batman: The Animated Series shaped Clayface—and that the real horror isn’t in the shape-shifting, but in the man who can’t remember who he is.
Tom Rhys Harries and Naomi Ackie, the leads in DC Studios’ new horror film Clayface, have revealed they grew up devouring Batman: The Animated Series — and not just as fans. They called it a ritual. After school, they’d sprint home, flip on the TV, and wait for the opening theme.
That show wasn’t just entertainment. It was a blueprint. For them, and for the movie itself. The film’s original screenplay, helmed by horror maestro Mike Flanagan, draws direct inspiration from the 1993 episode ‘Feat of Clay’, where Matt Hagen transforms into the eponymous villain.
Harries praised Ron Perlman’s voice work in that episode as ‘sick’, a word he used with reverence, not irony. He cited the moment when Clayface confronts Batman, unsure of his own identity, as one of the most haunting in the series. Ackie echoed that sentiment. She didn’t just admire the performance.
She felt it. ‘But you feel so sorry for him,’ she said. The tragedy of the character, she noted, is what gives the film its emotional core. Even in the grotesque, there’s heart.
IGN spoke to both actors ahead of the film’s release, but no official date has been confirmed. Still, early buzz is building. Reactions from test screenings, though unverified. Are reportedly calling the film ‘freakishly awesome’ and ‘loaded with brutal scenes’.
And while the cast looks back at a childhood obsession, the film now stands at the edge of something bigger: a reimagining of a classic DC villain through the lens of modern body horror. Whether it’ll reshape the DCU remains to be seen. But for Harries and Ackie, it all started with a 3:30 PM broadcast.
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