Tom Rhys Harries on DC's Clayface gamble — SkimNews
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- Tom Rhys Harries plays DC supervillain Clayface (Matt Hagen) in a film produced by James Gunn and Matt Reeves, after a three-month audition process and a 13-year climb from his Mojo debut alongside Ben Whishaw and Rupert Grint.
- The character's arc follows an Oscar-nominated actor disfigured by a razor-wielding mob boss, then restored by Naomi Ackie's scientist Dr. Caitlyn Corr with a shape-shifting serum whose side effects include melting eyelids that the character snips with nail scissors.
- Harries, 36 and Cardiff-born, frames the resulting 'tipping point of ickiness' scene as the film's horror pivot, with the project compared to Darkman and The Substance rather than conventional superhero fare.
- Clayface lands amid a string of comic book box office disasters including The Marvels, Joker: Folie à Deux, and Supergirl — the last of which is projected to lose more than $100 million — with Harries arguing the medium 'needs a shake-up.'
- Harries credits an ADHD diagnosis at age 7, prompted by his parents who taught at Welsh-language schools, with his ability to hyper-focus on creative work, calling it essential to his acting career.
- His career trajectory runs from a 2011 debut in Hunky Dory (named after a Bowie album) through Mojo, White Lines on Netflix, and The Return opposite Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.
Why it matters: Clayface is a deliberate tonal gamble — horror over heroics — being released into a DC slate that has just watched Supergirl projected to lose $100 million-plus and following the recent Warner Bros-Paramount merger; for Harries, this is his first true showcase role after more than a decade of building credit, and a flop would tarnish both his breakthrough and the studio's appetite for tonal experimentation in the genre.
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