From films like The Social Network and Syriana to TV projects like The Handmaid’s Tale and Industry, Max Minghella has built a body of significant work. The 41-year-old actor-filmmaker now stars in Clayface, a body-horror psychological thriller film based on the eponymous character from DC Comics. It releases globally in cinemas today.
In the James Watkins-directed film, which is part of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe, Matt Hagen (played by Tom Rhys Harries) is an actor whose face is disfigured, and he turns to a scientist who transforms his body into clay, eventually leading him to lose his sanity as he is unable to recognise himself. Minghella plays Gotham PD Detective John Borrelli, described as a moral, humorous, and “straight-arrow” investigator in corrupt Gotham City. Over a video interview, Minghella chatted with t2 about his Clayface act and what makes him a horror fan.
What would you count as the biggest highs of the Clayface experience?
It has genuinely been one of the great professional experiences of my life. I had the most amazing time working on this. Despite the ambition of the movie, it felt unbelievably intimate. James (Watkins, director) created an experience for all of us as actors where there was a lot of freedom at play. At the same time, he had a very clear understanding of the film he was making, so it never felt unstable. It felt like a very safe and exciting environment. I had a great time doing it.
You are also a filmmaker. Does the key to nailing a film on a scale as big as this truly lie in deeply rooted intimate emotions?
I think that was helpful with the character (John Borelli) I played because he constantly evolved throughout the making of the film. James and I were aligned on the fact that the character has quite a clear moral centre. We also had to make sure that he wasn’t just a Dudley-Do-Right character, but also had some dimensionality to him. That was our goal every day on this film. There was a particular sort of freedom around figuring out John. And hopefully, making him feel like somebody who has got dimensions too.
What was your first brush with the world of Clayface and its characters?
I am such a movie nerd, DC nerd in real life that when I found out that this movie was happening, long before my own involvement in it, I just looked up more about the character... I looked up the Batman animated series, and the Feat of Clay episodes. That was because I was very, very curious about the making of this film. I wanted to know more about it, and immediately it struck me as a character that is extremely well suited to adaptation because of how cinematic it is. Certain comic-book acts don’t necessarily lend easily to different mediums, but Clayface does. It is surprising, in a way, that this film is our introduction to him on screen because the characteristics of Matt Hagen and Clayface are cinematic.
Did you feel a certain kinship or any sort of identification with the character?
There were challenges that I was really attracted to. That is what I am always drawn to as an actor. I like to push myself and to step out of my comfort zone.
There was something about what a straight arrow John was that drew me in and what a clear moral compass he has that was unlike other characters I have played before, many of which tend to lean on the darker side of the moral spectrum.
Also, the accent. I almost exclusively play American characters, but John has quite a strong regional accent, and I found that quite tricky. It was fun to play somebody who comes from North London.
I grew up in a film family (Max’s father was noted filmmaker Anthony Minghella), and in this film, I got to play someone who comes from an antithetical socio-economic background. There is something about that which is always fun.
Like Matt Hagen, I consider myself to be somebody who likes doing character work and playing characters that are very far away from myself. This film was certainly that.
Horror is really having a moment at the global box office this year. What do you feel accounts for the resurgence of the genre and the fact that so many horror films, cutting across budget and type, have done so well recently?
It has been fantastic! I think that there is something about genre movies — whether they are horror films or comedies or sweeping romances — which can push emotional buttons in ways that really play well in this theatrical environment. I think that the success of horror is also speaking to a larger momentum around the theatrical experience and the uniqueness of it. I am very confident that Clayface delivers on that front and that it will be a movie that will be fun to watch with a crowd.
Also, Gotham-set movies have a visual element to them that is so sweeping, and this is the first time that you are going to see Gotham in James (Gunn) and Peter’s (Safran) DCU (DC Universe).
Even if I had nothing to do with this movie, I would be there at the first-night preview just for the curiosity to see what they are going to do with it. They have done something with the traditional depiction of Gotham, but it also has a really unique stamp on it.
From directing a body-horror thriller like Shell a few years ago to now starring in Clayface, does it feel like a full-circle moment for you?
I have always been drawn to these kinds of movies. I did a film with Chris Rock called Spiral (2021), and that was my first time doing a full-fledged horror movie. I was really surprised by the joy that the audience felt watching that film and that genre... it was fascinating to me. How they loved watching extreme things play out on screen, and it did open my eyes to the fact that making these kinds of movies is really fun. There is something very tactile about making horror films, specifically.
I love watching documentaries that focus on the making of horror films. They look like the ones people have the most fun working on because of how tangible the craftsmanship is. That was something that was truly reflected in Clayface. There is something very intimate, collaborative about the actual physical production of the film.
As a viewer, what are your favourites in the genre?
I love slasher movies, I like things where there is a traditional kind of pattern to how the film is supposed to work, and then you could really see how the individual filmmakers sort of impose themselves on it. I was born in 1985, and the first Scream (1996) movie came out at a very pivotal time for me. I think I was 11 when it came out. It is kind of a perfect time for a movie like that, right?
Recently, I have been looking at the early 2000s remakes of Friday The 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I have actually been impressed in retrospect by the craftsmanship in those movies. Sometimes, with some distance, you can really appreciate something that you missed the first time.
I have always been drawn to horror movies. I specifically like the genre because the films in it are not pretentious and they create a delivery system for more complicated human ideas without making you feel like you are being spoon-fed or told off.
My favourite body-horror watch is... Tell t2@abp.in