Striving to protect and positively influence their young and impressionable children is a high priority for many parents, regardless of the troubling circumstances they find themselves in. Unfortunately, at times even their best intentions can fail and ultimately do more harm than good. That’s certainly the case with the married main characters in the horror film, ‘Clown,’ as they try to make their son happy on his birthday with a visit by the title iconic figure. But actor Andy Powers’ well-meaning character soon uncovers the frightening consequences of depending on superficial societal expectations to fulfill a sense of contentment.
After Dimension Films and Anchor Bay Entertainment unveiled ‘Clown’ in select theaters and On Demand this past June, the production and distribution companies are set to release the fantasy fantasy film on Tuesday on home entertainment. The movie’s Blu-ray and DVD, which will be sold for the SRP of $26.99 and $22.98, respectively, will include the bonus feature, ‘Making Clown Featuring Producer Eli Roth.’ The drama was directed by ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ helmer, Jon Watts, who also co-wrote the script with Christopher Ford.
‘Clown’ follows Meg (Laura Allen) as she learns that the clown she hired to provide the entertainment for her son Jack’s (Christian Distefano) sixth birthday party isn’t able to attend. So she decides to call her husband, Kent (Powers), who’s finishing up the day at his job, to let him know what’s happening. Since his work as a realtor often keeps him busy and away from his family for long hours, Kent decides to surprise his son and wife by dressing up as a clown himself. He randomly finds a clown outfit, wig and makeup amongst the belongings of the deceased man whose home he’s preparing to sell, which he initially views to be a miracle. But unbeknownst to Kent, the costume he discovers in one of the late man’s trunks actually contains a demon that possesses its wearer.
The day after his son’s birthday party, Kent comes to discover that the costume, including its red nose, wig and make-up, won’t come off. He also begins to notice that his personality begins to horrifically change. In order to try to stop the outfit’s curse, and protect his family from danger, the once promising realtor realizes that he must make grim choices about his future.
The longer Kent has the costume on, the more his personality is dangerously altered, and he finally decides that he can no longer care for his family. He’s able to obtain some answers about what’s happening to him when he speaks to Herbert Karlsson (Peter Stormare), the brother of the deceased homeowner who previously had the costume in his possession. Kent then feels the need to end his suffering, but is quickly stopped when he develops an appetite for children’s blood. As Meg concurrently learns that she’s pregnant with their second child, and wants to reunite Kent with their son, she becomes determined to save her husband. As she sets out to protect Kent, Meg must also make drastic decisions that will alter her family forever.
Powers took the time to talk about playing Kent in ‘Clown’ during an exclusive phone interview to help promote the movie’s home release. Among other things, the actor discussed how he was drawn to play the lead character in the horror film, as he felt that Watts and Ford created a well-written story about an ordinary man who became caught in an extraordinary circumstance. The actor also mentioned how he enjoyed working with his co-stars, especially Allen and Stormare, as he built his title character’s complex relationships on screen.
ShockYa (SY): You play Kent, the title character in the horror film, ‘Clown.’ What was it about the character, as well as the overall story and project, that convinced you to take on the role?
Andy Powers (AP): When I spoke to the film’s casting director, Billy Hopkins, I immediately saw that I was essentially going to be playing two characters. I love stories where you have ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances. Watching someone who’s a lovable, and for all intents and purposes, a good person, have to struggle with something that he’s horrified by, really intrigued me. The script was also very well written, so I was excited to get to be a part of such a unique story.
SY: Kent is driven to commit some heinous acts the longer he wears the clown suit, but he’s also plagued by moments of desire to stop harming innocent people. What was the process of balancing his deplorable drive to kill them, with his regret over harming his victims, as well as his family?
AP: Well, I was basically playing two roles. I first play the real Kent, but then the clown costume slowly starts to take over his instincts. He then becomes horrified at what he’s finding himself desiring to do as the other character is rising.
So he’s finding himself in these situations where he’s acting in ways that he wouldn’t normally be acting. He becomes just as horrified and disgusted by it as the viewer, until he finally becomes his new self. The clown fully creeps in, and he becomes this hateful and hungry creature.
SY: What was your experience of collaborating with the film’s director, Jon Watts, who also co-wrote the script?
AP: Working with John was amazing. But the shoot was grueling, as we only had a limited amount of time for the amount of scenes we were shooting. So we had to maximize every day that we did have.
Besides the fact that Jon created the story with Chris, he just really knew how to get what he wanted overall. He wouldn’t move on until he got what he wanted, which was pretty cool.
We all went a little crazy, because we spent so many hours shooting. We would start our work day at 7am on a Monday. By the time the fifth day of the week came along, we were going to work at midnight on a Saturday morning, which helped influence how we all did our jobs.
SY: How defined was the clown mythology when you signed onto the film? Did you work with Jon on expanding the backstory of the clown suit as you were shooting the movie?
AP: It was a fully developed story by the time I was cast. They knew exactly what they wanted. The script was completely final and locked in. By the time I signed on, they were already in pre-production, and securing the locations.
The audition was really interesting, because when I first met Jon, he asked me if I had seen the movie, ‘Howard the Duck.’ It was actually a secret pleasure of mine when I was a kid, and it was one of my favorite movies. So we ended up one upping each other of doing impressions of the devil that Jeffrey Jones played. We did all of these crazy voices
SY: What was your collaboration process with your co-stars, most notably Laura Allen, who portrays Kent’s wife, Meg, particularly in developing their relationship, and the tension that grows between them the more he’s affected by the suit?
AP: Everyone was really wonderful. Peter Stormare is really awesome, and I have been a big fan of his work fora long time. So when I finally met him, I was so impressed by how enthusiastic he was. The guy just showed up to have fun everyday, and he was really well prepared.
On the first night that we shot, we filmed the scene were the car gets wrecked. There was a lot of violence that went along with being pulled out of the car and thrown onto the hood. In each take, Peter had to fill his mouth with fake blood. But between takes, I realized that he was amping himself up by laughing this maniacal laugh. I think we were into our third take before I finally heard him laughing with this mouth full of blood.
I actually knew Laura Allen from years ago, so I was excited to finally have the chance to work with her. Like I mentioned, Peter is one of my heroes. So working with this cast was a dream come true.
Watch the official trailer for ‘Clown’ below.
Written by: Karen Benardello