Clayface actor Max Minghella says he learned an awful lot from his co-star Tom Rhys Harries during production of the DC Universe (DCU) movie.
Max Minghella “learned so much” working with Tom Rhys Harries on Clayface.
The 41-year-old actor plays Gotham City police detective John Borrelli in the DC Universe (DCU) body horror thriller and was impressed by the way Harries – who stars in the title role – led the cast both on and off screen.
Max told Collider: “I’m a big sponge. I really try and use every opportunity to learn from people around me, and I’ve been so lucky recently working with people I look up to so much.
“Tom Rhys Harries on Clayface, I learned so much from him. Just incredibly disciplined, amazing leadership on set.
“I think one of the things that doesn’t get spoken about so much is the responsibility of being a number one on a call sheet. The day I got this job, he called me and was always, always in communication, always made me feel a part of the team.
“He did an amazing job, I think, on this film in all sorts of ways, on and off camera.”
The movie centres on Matt Hagen/Clayface – who turns to a scientist to transform his body into clay to restore his former appearance after he is disfigured by a mobster – and Minghella had an inkling that the movie would be “special” before he had even joined the cast.
The Babylon actor said: “To be honest, with Clayface, even before I was involved in the movie, like when I just heard about it being announced, and I heard James Watkins was directing it, I had some weird instinct that it was going to be a special project and something that might connect with people.”
Minghella explained that it became “normal” to see Harries, 34, in “incredibly grotesque” prosthetics as his alter ego came to life.
He recalled: “We got to see lots and lots of stuff. We shot the movie very quickly, and Tom, God bless him, was often having to do so much in one day that he’d be in one prosthetic, he’d then be in another wardrobe, then he’d be going to shoot a different scene and be back in the prosthetic. So, you got to see all sorts of versions of him.
“What’s funny is how normal it became. By week three, we got used to seeing Tom in these incredibly grotesque and f***** up makeup effects. He would often call and FaceTime his family and then suddenly be in some mad get-up.
“But he had such a great manner. He just was so professional about it. He never complained once.
“He gave it his all, and it was a lot that they asked of him. This is a big part. He’s in almost every frame of the film, and it’s very physically taxing and emotionally taxing.
“So, I think without Tom, the whole thing would have fallen apart.”
Max Minghella hails ‘amazing leadership’ of Clayface co-star Tom Rhys Harries
