Clayface director put Tom Rhys Harries through months of auditions
James Watkins put Tom Rhys Harries through the wringer to cast him as Clayface.
The Welsh actor plays Matt Hagen in DC Studios' Clayface, and Watkins told The Hollywood Reporter at the film's world premiere at the Hollywood Legion Theater that he tested Harries harder than anyone he has cast before.
"I don't think I've ever auditioned anyone that much," Watkins said. He added that he saw a host of actors for the lead, but Harries had something special. He put it bluntly: he "auditioned the hell out of" him.
Harries gives the same account from the other side of the camera. The process stretched over three months. That is a long haul for a single role.
It included two fairly long screen tests with Watkins, Harries said. A screen test is a filmed trial, used to see how an actor looks and plays on camera before a final decision.
In the finished film, Harries plays Hagen, the man who becomes Clayface. Naomi Ackie co-stars as Caitlyn Corr, the scientist in charge of Hagen's experimental procedure.
The project began as a pitch and first draft from Mike Flanagan. Hossein Amini then wrote another draft before Watkins came on to direct. Producer Lynn Harris, Matt Reeves' producing partner, produces on Clayface.
What makes this stand out is the sheer legwork behind a comic-book lead. Months of callbacks and long camera tests are unusual in public. For fans, this means the Hagen pick was not quick or obvious. It was argued over, take by take.
