Terrifier's Art The Clown Actor Got The Gig After A Nasty Bit Of Improv

Art the Clown is fast-becoming a new slasher icon. Though he's yet to star in a truly massive box office hit, his blood-drenched exploits in "Terrifier 2" went a long way towards building his reputation as the slasher killer of the modern age. Damien Leone, the creator of the franchise and director of the first two installments, has made a name for himself by going further than any Hollywood horror and depicting scenes of such utter depravity that audiences have reportedly struggled not to pass out.

2016's "Terrifier" went largely unnoticed, but is infamous among some horror fans for a scene in which one victim is strung upside down and essentially, shall we say, divided in two in a particularly unfortunate manner. "Terrifier 2" then arrived in 2022 with just as much, if not more ultra-violence, and proved to be almost too brutal for even seasoned horror fans. Despite the film's astonishing level of abject savagery, it managed to finally gain Leone and the franchise some recognition, making $15.7 million on a $250,000 budget and leading to some wider cultural influence, including an Art the Clown cameo in Pete Davidson's Peacock series "Bupkis." Now, with "Terrifier 3" on the horizon, Leone and his unhinged harlequin look poised to truly break into the mainstream.

But to say all of this is down to Leone's insistence on depicting full-on, unadulterated mega-gore would be doing Art the Clown himself a disservice. Specifically, it would be selling short the efforts of the man behind the makeup, David Howard Thornton, whose tricksterish yet sinister performance as Art in both "Terrifier" and its sequel has helped establish the character as one of the most oddly compelling slasher figures of modern times. For Leone, that potential was there from the moment Howard Thornton auditioned.

Before Art the Clown starred in his own film with 2016's "Terrifier," he was one of many twisted characters Damien Leone devised to bring his nightmarish visions to life in a series of short films. Originally portrayed by Mike Giannelli, Art showed up in the short films "The 9th Circle" (2008) and "Terrifier" (2011), before becoming the central ghoul in 2013's "All Hallows' Eve." But when it came time for the first official "Terrifier" movie, Leone switched things up, casting relative newcomer David Howard Thornton in the role.

The director created Art the Clown as somewhat of an amalgamation of iconic horror killers, from Freddy to Michael Myers. But there was an extra element of sadistic humor bound up in the blood-thirsty clown, which set him apart from your typical emotionless killing machine. As Leone previously told /Film, "[Art] thinks what he's doing is funny because he's laughing," adding, "It's that humanity that comes through from the character, believe it or not, that I think is what people really gravitate toward so much [...] I think it's that sense of humor that really attracts him to people, or people to him."

While both "Terrifier" and "Terrifier 2" are basically wall-to-wall ultra-violence, there's certainly something about Art's incongruous cheekiness that makes both films so utterly disturbing yet grimly comedic. You could put that down to Leone's conception of the character or his direction on-set, but I think it's fair to say that David Howard Thornton really defined much of this aspect of the character, and the story of his audition for the role speaks to that.

Though he completed a degree in elementary education, David Howard Thornton decided to pursue acting, and evidently felt he would do well in the role of a homicidal clown with a sense of humor. The actor discussed his first audition for Art with Bloody Flicks, where he claimed it was the "most interesting and fun" audition he'd ever been to. 

"I had seen a notice for the part on an audition site calling for skinny men with clowning/physical comedy experience to audition for the role of Art," Howard Thornton explained, recalling that he'd never done horror before but was familiar with the character of Art, and asked his reps to submit him for the role in 2016's "Terrifier." When he landed the audition, however, he wasn't provided with any script, scenes, or even lines. As the would-be elementary teacher remembered it, in April 2015 he was simply asked to show up to the meeting with Damien Leone and the producers, and didn't know what to expect. He continued:

"They asked me to improvise a scene as Art on the spot. This was when I was glad that I had a lot of training in improv since I was put on the spot like that. If I remember correctly, I made up a scene where I walked in and snuck up behind his victim stabbing her in the head and ended up sawing off her head."

Not a bad start, then. But simply miming this decapitation wasn't what got Howard Thornton the part. The actor provided just a touch of extra sado-comedic genius to his improv.

Simply miming the beheading of a victim wasn't quite enough for David Howard Thornton during his "Terrifier" audition. The actor told Bloody Flicks how he proceeded to pick up the imaginary head and pretended to have a conversation with it. He continued:

"[I]" ended up tasting the blood leaking out of it. This was not to my liking, so I whipped out a salt shaker and seasoned the head to my liking. I then threw the head in my bag of tricks, tossed the bag over my shoulder, and skipped out of the room. They yelled 'Cut!' and I noticed Damien had his head on the table in a fit of giggles, and Phil Falcone (one of the producers) said something to the line 'Holy s**t! That's Art!'"

After performing such a depraved improv, Howard Thornton was basically guaranteed the starring role in "Terrifier" — though he had to wait a while to find out for sure. As the actor remembered it:

"They asked me if I was comfortable with enduring hours of makeup applications and if I was up for coming in for a make up test, and told me that they would be in touch. A few months later, they called me in for the tests and told me that I had the part."

"Terrifier" started shooting soon after, and Howard Thornton quickly proved himself capable in the role, displaying much of the same humor that landed him the role in the first place. Since then, that humor has come to define much of the character, helping lead the franchise to its recent success.

David Howard Thornton recalled how filming for "Terrifier" started in October of 2015, during which time the actor was almost shot by New Jersey Police officers after some locals mistook his fake blood-splattered clothing for the real thing. But despite almost meeting his own demise during filming, Howard Thornton seemingly regrets nothing about pursuing or playing Art. As he told Bloody Flicks:

"That was one of those auditions where I walked out knowing I had the part deep down, because everything just felt right. I'm glad my gut was right, because I have loved playing the character!"

Apparently, there's a scene in the upcoming "Terrifier 3" that almost made Howard Thornton sick, so we'll have to see whether he feels any different about playing the murderous clown during the press tour for that movie. But for now, there's no doubt the actor and his comedic abilities have been an integral part of helping Art become one of the biggest slasher stars of the past few years.