Clayface Is Coming: Why Tom Rhys Harries’ Take on Gotham’s Shapeshifter Has Us Hooked

Some of us first met Gotham’s villains on a Saturday morning, cartoon on, cereal going soggy. For actor Tom Rhys Harries, that’s exactly where Clayface began.

Now the shapeshifter is getting a very different treatment. DC Studios’ Clayface is a horror thriller, Harries shared how he approached the role of Matt Hagen. Here’s the quick, spoiler-free rundown.

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Clayface : Overview

From Cartoon Memory to Big-Screen Monster

Harries says he first knew Clayface from the Batman cartoon he watched growing up. He also points to the character’s long history: the villain first appeared in DC Comics in the 1940s, and the Matt Hagen version arrived in the 1960s.

That history is exactly what intrigued him. How do you play someone who can become anybody or anything? Harries framed it as a question of getting under the skin of a character who has no fixed shape.

The Story: A Man Before the Monster

The film follows Matt Hagen, a promising Hollywood actor whose life and career collapse after a brutal act of cruelty. A cutting-edge treatment restores his appearance, but it comes with disturbing physical and psychological side effects. Those push him toward revenge.

Here’s the twist that makes this interesting. According to Harries, Matt doesn’t know anything about Clayface when we meet him. He’s simply trying to hold his life together. The monster, in other words, grows out of the man.

The Psychology That Drives Him

Harries kept coming back to one idea: what sits beneath a person’s ambition. He described the tension between running toward something and running away from something, and noted that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Sometimes you can’t tell which one you’re doing.

As the film unfolds, he says, Matt gets clearer about his priorities, and that clarity drives his choices. It sounds less like a pure creature feature and more like a character study with teeth.

The Cast Around Him

Harries leads an ensemble that includes:

• Naomi Ackie
• David Dencik
• Max Minghella
• Eddie Marsan
• Nancy Carroll
• Joshua James

Should You Watch It? Quick Mood Guide

Why This One Feels Different?

Superhero films usually chase spectacle. This one is leaning into dread, identity and consequence, with a villain who gets his own story instead of just a cameo in someone else’s. That’s a refreshing choice, and it makes October a good month to be a DC fan.

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