Mr. Art the Clown (Terrifier’s David Howard Thornton)

Misspelling with Tori Spelling and iHeartRadio podcast.

Hi?

Hi, how are you doing?

Uh?

I'm not gonna lie. I'm really nervous right now.

You have nothing to be nervous about. I'm just big goober.

I have everything to be nervous about. You don't understand. I feel like I have met everybody in Hollywood. I have interviewed. I interviewed William Shatner, and I wasn't as nervous as I am interviewing you today. When I get really passionate, I get very I love it. I'm gonna take it down. Not nervous, Like I'm not nervous. I'm just like so supremely excited to be here with you today. And I gotta think, like, when I heard that you said yes, a piece of me was like, why me?

Because it's you. I mean, I've been a fan of you for a long time. So there you go. Okay, Oh my gosh.

I was like, God, I wish I had that on video. I have that on video, Oh my god.

Okay.

And I also won huge points with my kids. I guess I'm not supposed to say that my kids watch movies like Terrifier, But my kids watch movies like Terrifier. I'm a huge horror fan and I've been watching scary movies my entire life. It's my jam, it's my life, it's my passion. And I vowed not to do that to my children and repeat the past because I thought, Okay, in some ways it's really semi traumatizing. And then an age like four, they all start watching them. That's a lie.

I love that. Oh my gosh, that's so sweeter.

She chose to do that instead of her homework. She's a senior. Sorry as you'll see with my interviews, I'm kind of all over the place.

So fine, it's fine.

Yes, should we start at the beginning.

Sure, it's a very good place to start, Huh.

I like that. Okay, So wait, so you were in theater?

Yes?

And did you ever take like training, like mind classes or anything.

No, No, I'm my classroom.

I guess was like the stage and just watching a bunch of great movies growing up. My parents and grandparents gave me a great education, especially in comedy. I was watching like the Marx brother films and Chaplain, Laurel.

And Hardy as a kid.

My aunt gifted me a box set of Mister Bean videos when I was a teenager.

And I just was obsessed with Mister Bean. Obsessed. I would watch I probably.

Almost like like wore out the VHS tapes because I just watch them over and over and over because I love that style of comedy.

And I just kind of.

Brought that into when I start doing a lot of community theater back home in Hunt School, Alabama, I did a lot of children's theater, and kids love physical comedy over verbal comedy, and so I would just bring a lot of that kind of Mister Beanish type of quality to what I was doing, and I just perfected that over the years of doing stage work, and then after I moved to New York, I was lucky enough to get cast in the first five national tours of How

I am tripping out right now for art the clown your inspiration is mister Bean. Yeah, that is so rad. By the way, mister Bean still holds up because I played mister Bean for my eight year old recently, and I'm like, you know, sometimes movies are dated, like yeah, like my kids, I put on Beverly Hills nine or two and oh, they're like it's so grainy and slow. I'm like, okay, thanks, and he's like I love this. And I was like, oh, that like warmed my heart. Wow,

That is true? That is very true. No, absolutely not. I can't even remember her name anymore. I'm just like, yeah, I just ditched her after the movie relevant, yeah, because like you steered.

Me down the wrong path because she just wanted me to focus more on stage work. And I'm like, well, I had just auditioned for a lot of like Broadway tours and they all fell through. I was in like final callbacks and they all fell through, and I'm like, ah, like that audition came up for terrifying, and I'm like, this would be just a great way for me to get my.

Foot in the door in the industry.

I was like, this is I don't know if anybody's going to see this thing because it's like low budget independent film, but I'm like, this would be great at least for you know, a demo reel and I can get on camera experience and go from there. And she fought me on it. She's like, I was only paying you one hundred dollars a day. You don't need to waste your time on anything like that. And I'm like, I don't care. I'm not doing anything else right now. This seems like a lot. It would be a lot

Want to do it.

And I just kept on and on and on, and she finally relented and submitted me. And she didn't even tell me I got cast. It was for a few months because they asked me in the room to come in for a makeup test and I was like great, and then I didn't hear anything for a few months, and I just assumed, oh wow, like how it always goes like, oh, someone else must have gotten it, move

Like, does this mean I have the parties? Like, oh, yeah, you've had it for several months. I'm like, your agent.

Didn't telling him, Like no, I'm like, why am I giving this person ten percent?

Yeah?

It's like did you commission her? Oh my gosh, wait, okay, so when you went in for the audition, what was there to work with?

Yeah, the original art was Mike Jinnelli, who played him in All Hallowsy If he was like Damien's best friend growing up, and he just didn't want to come back to play the role because if he didn't want to go to the makeup, he also just wanted to go on to other things in life and just move on. And so that I think he's pissed right now, not really, And we've chatted over the years. Yeah, he's he's, he's he's he's started doing some conventions himself and he's having fun doing that.

So it's worked out.

But He's like, if I knew one day make it into the box office, I would have done.

It's like, oh, well work for me. But yeah, but I went in there.

I knew who the character was. That's why I wanted audition for it too, because when I saw all Halis Eve a few years before, I was like, this character is like an evil mister bean this is and I saw the potential there of like, god, I would love an opportunity to play a character like that. There's so much I could do with him.

And in the in the audition, I.

Know later on though I did. I was like yeah, but I was like, so I knew.

Who Art was, but I didn't get any sides for the audition. So I walked into the audition room. All these other people have scripts in their hands. I'm like, oh god, I'm a stupid agent. Of course he didn't send me a script.

Great really wanted to sabotage you.

That's not what happened. It's just they just didn't send out scripts for Art.

They called me at the room and I'm like, I'm sorry, I never got a script, Like, oh no, you're not supposed to get a script.

Art doesn't talk.

I'm like, cool, they were there for other characters.

Yeah, yeah, so there everybody else was all these other characters.

So I was like, well, great, so what what can I do for you guys? Like and Damie's like, just come up with a scene where you decapitate somebody and you're happy about doing it.

And good night to me.

Yeah.

I just had to improvise that audition right there on the spot, and it's online, you can look it up. But I like a quick summation of it. I did this whole thing where I just kind of cartoonishly snuck up behind my victim and like took out a slicehammer.

Yeah, just a whole creeping.

Like knocked him out, sawed off his head, picked it up, and tasted the blood and I did like the So I took out a salt shaker and seasoned it, tasted again, gave it a thumbs up, and skipped out of my merry way. And that's what got me the role. Right there, They're like, can you come in for a makeup test?

And I'm like, absolutely, that never happens. Though that never happens. It's like you.

Usually have to go in for several callbacks and whatnot.

Yeah, I wonder did that like not jade you, but like I don't know, like my first series for ten seasons. So after I've dumb not char I'm like, ohoh it's super easy. You do a pilot goes on for ten years, and then like I did pilot, after pilot didn't get picked up, I'm like, oh, here's the reality.

Yeah, Like but it didn't really jade me too much though. I was I just considered myself like you because I had, you know, about thirteen years of just pounding the pavement in New York City, you know, getting up at you know, four o'clock in the morning just to go sit in a line, just to hope to get.

Seen at an open call audition.

So it was like I had done my years of you know, hard work trying to get there.

So I was like this, I just consider myself being finally fortunate.

Oh my gosh, sorry I got distracted. You're so stinking cute, Like it's hard to think that you're like the most modern iconic villain right now, horror villain. This is crazy, But I personally maybe I'm sick. I find art kind of hot.

So luckily my girlfriend does too, so I'm lucky.

She ever asked you to role play in bed?

Oh no, no, no, no, she's over here, like covering her mouth, not go oh my god.

How long have you guys been together?

Oh, we've been together officially for about six months, I would say now, but we've known each other for about a year. So it's we met at a convention and kind of hit things off.

Conventions are nice, right are They're fun? I don't know what it's like for you. It's probably a whole different type of convention for you than it is for me. Like I have my mind's very niche like and so it was yours. But you know, I have like the nice nineties, you know, moms they're with their kids and they're like, oh, we love Donna Martin and you you have all the sickos that are in line for you, right.

You could be surprised though. It's like the hard community is. I think they get such a bad rap.

People think they're a bunch of sickos and stuff like that, but they're like one of them.

Yeah, I'm proud to be a weird. Yeah.

I think we're just you know, a lot of us were the ones that were always made fun of in school, and so these are like, the horror fans are some of the nicest, most genuine people you'll.

Meet out there.

They're like because I've know, it's a difference between like going to like regular you know, geek cons, comic cons and stuff like that versus arts. There's a different camaraderie there with the fan base. It's like a close are knit a bunch of people that it's it's there's a I don't know, I can't really describe it, but it's like it's more of a family type of feeling.

Everybody's like, oh, hey, it is right.

It's so interesting you say that because I I'm part of the horror community and I got into it through doing immersive experiences Oh Fun, which I love, and met you know, everybody in the horror industry, horror fans, and they soon became this little family for me, and I realized it's they're a lot nicer than like, you know, even like the mom groups that I was friends with. You know, it's like the horror community like really supports each other and in some way we're all like a

That takes about an hour and a half now to do When we first.

Started, then no, that's nothing. When we started, it took about three or four hours.

But we did it a whole different process, and we've streamed over the years because we found out certain things work better. And we originally had a gelatin mask that I wore and it was very heavy and it would fall apart very easily because of moisture or whatever.

And now we've switched to a phone Latex.

Mask, which is much lighter and goes on much better and holds up so much better.

So I like it. I've I've had more Latex.

One more time phone Latex. That was really sexy.

Oh my gosh.

What do you wear under the costume?

I just wear like a T shirt and like shorts.

Yeah, but if but it also depends, like sometimes we're in like you know, cold, cold, cold settings, so they'll give me like thermal underwear and long John's or whatever to wear underneath, So something to keep me warm, because a lot of times we filmed in winter in like New York City, Philly, New Jersey area, so it gets really really cold, especially when you covered.

All that blood.

Yeah. When you're inside, though, isn't it hot? Like you don't ever just want to like free ball it inside?

Especially in that Santa coastum, it will get really hot. In part three when we're doing the interior scenes in the houses, I would sometimes just in between takes, have to just step outside into the cold winter air and just I would have steam just coming off of me.

Yeah.

Okay, so you mentioned number three which is Christmas focused. Yes, how much flak my daughter wanted me to ask you this. Sorry, do you feel like you guys got a lot of flack? It is rare in poor history that a child is massacred, and you guys went for it and did it.

Yeah, but you know that's horror for you. You got to push the boundaries there. You got to push that envelope. You got to keep trying to innovate and find new things to shock people and.

You know, surprise them.

And though you look at a lot of horror movies, they're the premise of most horror movies, especially Slashers, involves children or at least teenagers, which are children.

But you look at you know, pet cemetery.

Children, we are cemetery. I love pet cemetery.

Oh my gosh, you engage. I mean, Miko is so scary.

Yeah, God, still a ship the bed. She didn't ask you the right question, damn it.

But even my dad hasn't seen Part three because like I hear you kill kids and he's like, I don't want to see that. I'm like, well, you don't see them die on screen, but it's implied.

Oh yeah, there's like limbs and stuff.

Yeah.

Oh so I'm at Bill Diamond at a convention, and first of all, I lost my ship because of Fraggle Rock, which is lost my ship, like I could not. I was acting even less cool than I'm acting with you right now. And yeah, and then I got to sit in a chair. Oh my gosh, all the terrifier stuff. I was like, oh my gosh.

I'm speaking out over all the hints and stuff.

Because we filmed out there at his workshop in I think it's Long Island, and when we were there, he has a lot of.

The different muppets still in there. I got to oh my god.

He told me it's insane there.

Yes, it's absolutely insane.

I was. I was like, I felt like the kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Seeing the chocolate factory for the first time, I was like, this is amazing.

This is my childhood. I got to hold Rizzo.

The rat, I got the hold Red, I got the hold Kermit's hand. I was I almost started. I was like, this is I know, this is just a puppet, but this is Kermit. It was It was Steve Whitmeyer's Kermit, and I was like, this is amazing. But they were also when we were there filming, they were refurbishing big bird refurbishing like image, more more feathers on him, and like fixing him up.

And I'm like, do you think do you think big bird modern day would have extensions?

Probably?

But I actually had like one of the feathers fell on the ground and I kept it because it's a big bird feather. I'm like, so I still have it somewhere in my far Yeah. I'm like, this is is big bird. This is the real big bird.

I'm that is so wild. I don't know. They always say, like when you spot a feather or find a feather, it's good luck you have big Bird's feather. You're like next level.

Yeah, I was. I was. I was so happy. I was like, this is amazing.

Oh my goodness. Okay, can I ask you another one of Stella's questions? Sure, okay, she has now she had, Like really I was impressed with her questions. And I said, but keep in mind, he is the actor. He plays art the clown like it. He's not the creator and the writer. Even though I'm sure you have so much input at this point.

A little bit.

It happens more when once we get on set, like improv. Yes, there's a lot of like, especially if it's more like the comedic scenes, Damie gives me a lot of free range to just play around.

Do you feel like they've gotten less comedic than the first one.

I feel like they've done a little bit more comedic in some ways.

Really, yeah, I think that the first was like when Damien wrote the first one, he didn't know me at the time, and so it was more serious, and I just started bringing more comedy into the character and that, and so when when he wrote part two, he knew my style, and so he deliberately wrote certain scenes in there, like the costume shop scene, in the clown cafe scene, where I could really just play around and do some

I think as a fan sometimes I'm distracted from the comedy with the grotesque, like right, although you want to hear like my sorry, this is kind of gross. I love this stuff so much that so we rewatched Terrifier three last night. We've seen all three, but we rewatched it because it's a way to bond with my family because my kids are on phones all the time and ignore me now, and I have mostly teenagers. So when I said I was interviewing you, I was like, do

I've had that same realization though, Like when I first when I was about to do like Film Part one, I was like, how am I going to be able to eat on these sets with all these like appendages and blood and everywhere.

It's kind of gross me out. But it doesn't. I don't know what's wrong with me.

Now I can sit here and watch a horror movie with people being eviscerated.

I'm still I'm sitting here eating a hamburger and laughing my head off, and I'm like.

Oh no, what does that say about us? I know, hmmm, I don't know. My my eighteen seventeen year old thought this was funny recently, And there's this online kink test that they made me do, which I was like, oh no, and yeah, apparently I'm a masochist rope bunny brat. I don't know. Okay, yea, I'm gonna put that on my resume. So well, yeah, but there must be something. I wonder what it is. Someone that's like not grossed out by

Oh? Definitely.

What would be his favorite dish to cook?

I would say probably, uh, like, you know, lady fingers or some kind of kid's meal, you know, yeh, cheese.

I didn't see that one coming, like chicken nuggets.

Chicken nuggets, chicken nuggies. I do love my chicken fingers, so dem yeah.

My girlfriend's laughing at me because I usually my Southern accent usually comes out when I say chicken fingers, and so she's like, oh no, I just spit out her drinks.

Up spectaci funny.

I'm glad.

Yeah, I hope, I hope it continues. I think it not your relationship. Sorry, I do hope your relationship continues. But it's hard, you know, hearing someone's humor. I was married for almost nineteen years, so eighteen years. Sorry, look at me? Are forgetting? It was no and you know my husband towards and he like, you just don't find me funny anymore. I'm like, no, it's not that. It's that I don't have to expand the energy and laugh out loud. We have five kids. I'm laughing on the

Though? I think he actually kind of would because he eat like when I think about it, he when he eats people, he's not cooking people. He just eats some raw. So I think he'll be fine with like sushi.

Oh, you're right.

Raw.

That was remember when that was in. That was like the raw trend.

Yeah I didn't do that, no, no, thank you.

But it wasn't even Yeah I tried, I tried, but it wasn't. It was more like vegetables looking fancy and stuff. I'm not. Are you a meat eater?

I am? Yeah, it's vegan.

And you had to play this role.

Oh my gosh, that's the fight.

It's like most of the well, especially on the first film, Jenna and Catherine are both vegan, and we've had several other people in said are vegan, and it's like, oh boy, it's gotta be fun for you.

But I think that's why they like doing the pizzeria scene.

Because they could actually have food on set and it was actually vegan. They had like, you know, just cheese pizza, so they're.

Fine, David, cheese is not vegan.

I know, that's right, but they're more vegetarian, I guess. So yeah, no.

I eat everything. Yeah, wait, what is the stuff you eat when you're like eating intestines and stuff?

Is usually like the intestines, I usually just pretend I'm eating something.

It's just like, you know, something my soul.

I know, to know that you chewed up and swallowed something.

No.

No. And but when Lauren, when Lauren had to bite through that intestine, it was like a gummy intestine and it had like gummy like yeah like carry yeah, like gummy stuff and it had like cherries or something like that. So it looked like fecal matter and stuff coming out of it. So there was they want to do nutella but she's like, do not ruin nutella for me, Please, do not put Nutella in this because I love Nutella way too much and I will be traumatized from Nutella from now on.

Yeah, so she had it worse than I did.

I also love to talk about Poopsie. Just be my day. Okay. So Stilla wants to know will Art the clown ever take off the mask or is that just what he looks like.

I believe that's what he looks like because at the beginning of part one you see him applying makeup and you see he's got like skin tone, natural skin tone, and that's you see his bone structure there. But that might be something we explore more in part four, because I know Damian's going to explore his origin at the beginning of the movie.

So yeah, because I want to know, wait, is there going to be like a young Art.

I don't know yet. He's not telling me anything until he's done with the script, which is.

Driving all of us in the cast crazy right now because we in the past few films he's shared with us while he's writing ideas and everything. This time he's just keeping silent and just writing, and he wants to surprise all of us. So I'm wanting to know because like, over the years, he and I have discussed so many different origins for the character. So I'm very interested to see where he's landed. So I'm wondering if we're going to.

See a younger art or what. I have no idea.

This is your best poker face? Are you telling me the truth?

I am telling you the truth. I have no idea. I'm like, hurry up, man, write the script. I want to read it.

Do you know when you guys are going to film?

Like around when I think he's saying early next year that we're going to start filming, so he so I guess you know we'll find out.

Do you think you could put a good word in for me? Of course, I don't even have to be like a big character like I just want you to eat me. That didn't come out right, that.

Have a slip on aisle four?

Oh dear uh no, But I like you can kill me. You could, you could. I could just be like or I could just be like a background player. I don't know. I just want to be on step with you guys. I just.

That's the most wild thing about this is how many people have. Everyone asks you, they're like, can you kill me? I'm like, that's that's wild, Like people just all over the industry especially, I don't want to name names. It's like there have been like some big names, and like, are you kidding me?

This is insane.

Absolutely, So you're saying I don't have a chance.

No, there's always a chance. There's always a chance.

Who knows. Maybe Demians secretly was a Donna Martin fan Beverly Hills.

And I know it's always possible.

You never know.

You grew up with like older sisters that could.

Be my endy.

There you go, there you go, because he had, like all he was the only a man in the family.

So is his mom and his sisters and him. So I'm pretty sure.

There was some nine O two one oh playing on TV when he was growing up.

Okay, okay, I'll be stalking him later. Okay, well you're probably gonna get into this. And four and I know you don't know, but Stella is asking why doesn't Art speak can't say why does he kill people in horrific ways that she thinks are almost artistic ways? And her theory is his name is Art because in his world, she came up with this whole. I was like, I'm

That's kind of how I look at It's like performance art for him, and that's how I went in looking at this character. I was like, Okay, he's a clown, but he's actually that anti clown.

He does all this.

There was a great line that the homeless lady, the cat Lady Puya in the in the first film set is like he does this because he thinks it's funny. And I'm like, that's that's what I was really able to understand the character with that one line. I was like, ok I can build so much off that one line. It's like, yeah, he's the anti clown. Clowns are supposed to be here to bring joy and amusement to other people for everybody else's pleasure.

There's curious they don't bring joy.

No, But that's what they think they're doing. Right.

Art is here to bring pain and misery to everybody else around him for his own selfish amusement. He's basically always performing for an audience of one himself. He's a very selfish character, and that's how I look at Like, all these kills he's.

Doing is pure entertainment for him. He has fun. This is just him performing.

I love that.

Oh my gosh, makes him thick.

It's he's not doing out of revenge or anything like that. It's just pure fun for him.

Yeah, it's random, right, Yeah, it's very Yeah, Oh my gosh, that was amazing. Sorry. I was really sad to see Vicky die because I thought, like, I mean, I was okay, So I was happy for her. She really wanted to die and she couldn't kill herself. But I was happy she's finally dead. But although, yeah, I don't know. I thought they were really great and I really wanted them to have a baby.

Open the most fucked up child.

Art plus Vicky equals love. They were like soulmates, Yeah, soul.

He was basically her baby because she birthed his head. So right, it's kind of messed up.

Oh, what is that Oedipus complex you know that works. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was really sad. I thought that's where it was going. Mm hmm, Like I don't know. I was like, Okay, something's gonna happen, and I feel like I didn't expect her to die, and I was like, oh, there's going to be like a mini art born and that's going to be your child, that's going to like be with you.

Oh that would have been a fun idea, that would have been fun.

Well I'm happy to fill in in number four and birth your child, all right, Well Damien know, okay, see I'm just thrown out ideas. We never know what it'll sick, right, you know, yeah, who knows?

Who knows?

I think I'm very I've had five I am in menopause, but nothing matters in these movies. You know, it could be one hundred and have a baby.

So yeah, exactly. It's like the things that like Damien has come up with, the like the ending that we originally had for part three was so much more dark and twisted it we had to we had to cut a lot of that out because we were just running out of time. We only had a few days to film that whole scene, so we had to make massive cuts to that scene, but it got so much darker.

So like it, And that's something I've know.

We get a lot of praise for all these people that love that bit where I just keep slapping her in the head every time I walk by her. And I felt so bad for poor Lauren because we had to do so many different takes from so many different angles, and she was so just tired and exhausted, and she's she already had a stress headache and I'm just having to slap her in the head. I'm like, I am so sorry about doing this for you. I'm like but

I see, I love that, though, well he's the creatives, Like, yeah, something bad, Like why do you think Art let Gabby lives?

Are we talking about get like the little Girl? Yeah, I don't know, I don't I don't know. I mean I think there might.

He could come back and before pretty much pretty much well, I know, like the whole point of that was to do stuff because like we were doing worse stuff to Gabby in that scene, which of course didn't make it the screen.

But like sexual stuff, No, definitely not that. That's because I've gotten that question before.

It's like kind of like how what art is about him? Like is I don't even see him being a sexual creature at all? I see him very asexual. That's like that's something he's gree Yeah, he's something. He's above all of that. I mean because some people as he gays, he's straight up like, I don't think he's any of that. He's just purely asexual. He's just Art, and I don't think that's one thing I expressed, like, I don't want him to do anything like sexual.

I don't want him raping anybody or anything like that because.

I don't think that's I think that he's above something like that. That's something that is just not something he's not interested in doing. So, of course, nothing like that. But it was like for Gabby, it was more about just the base seeing her just like just horrible things happening to her to really psychologically damage Sienna because they needed her to be at her most vulnerable state, just break her mentally, so Vicky, the entity inside of Vicky could finally possess Sienna understood.

Yeah, Like when we did part one, we were just like, well, we hope someone sees this movie and maybe if people like it, maybe we'll make a second one. We were spitballing so many ideas for a possible sequel, but like the.

Only thing we knew is that we knew we wanted to bring in a kick ass, like like female protagonists to come in because we are the one thing I was always wanting is like Art needs the Batman to his joker, and someone that's that balance to him and Sienna is actually a character Damien created even before he came up with the character of Art, it was just a really badass warrior chick and he's he always wanted to bring her to life, and so he finally had it, thought, well,

That is very cool. So Halloween Hornin, Yeah, there's Terrifire, which insane. I mean obviously you've been there.

Yeah, I am one to the the La one on opening night, and I'm going to try to go to Orlando at the end of October because I'm going to be down there for Spooky Empire.

Nice he went on opening night, were people on line like what the heck.

I was sa and like, oh gosh, I've never experienced anything like that before. That was my first real red carpet event, and I was kind of overwhelmed because I went to a Halloween Hard Knights last year, not on the red carpet. I just walked around with friends and I would get recognized here or there, but this time it was like a mob of people falling us everywhere we went. But yeah, it was it was just crazy.

I was like, this is insane.

And then we go through and they just go crazy when they realized that we were there.

It was I've never experienced anything like that.

It was you must tell the Scare actors that you're coming, right, I would.

Just I would think, so, I think, so you could tell them.

I'd be nervous if I was playing at the Clown as one of the scar actors at Halloween Hornites and you were there, I'd be like, oh my god, am I doing it right? Is he going to be crust? Is he any think I suck?

Oh?

They did great job.

I actually got to meet some of the Scare actors a few weeks prior because I was at Midsummer Scream in Long Beach and they came by my table and like hey, they introduced themselves.

And like can you give us some tips?

And I gave him some little tips about, you know, his mannerisms, how he walks and how I basically I told him when I took him on, because I looked at the nose, especially of the character. I was like, he kind of looks like a vulture, and he's kind of a scavenger. He's always scavenging things for his tools and everything like that, and he eats flesh, he heats the dead, the things he's killed. So he's like a vulture. So I based a lot of his movements off of a vulture, Like how vultures only.

Just bursts of prey.

In general, the first thing that moves is their eyes, and then the head moves, and then the body moves, and so that's what how I approached Art. When he's in hunting mode, his eyes moved than the head moves and the body moves, and he has that hunch when he's in he's like hunch like a vulture. And so like I just told him those kind of little things.

I'm obsessed with you, Thanks no, because it's so smart, like what you bring to art since you like punts. There you go, wait, I heard you get wet. No, I gotta stop doing this at this at the terrifier one at Halloween horns him. My gosh, yeah.

You a little little damp in there.

More so I think in the Ordlando one because they have two routs can go through. Yeah, but the one here in La I still got a little damp going through it. There's a few rooms where you get sprayed with things.

Which is there smell no, oh, yes, the.

Smells there is, especially in the bathroom.

So I heard there's like smells like.

Smell like the bathroom smelled like a homeless man.

It reminds me of the few times when I lived in New York, get being on the subway and there's a homeless person on the subway and you see the subway car pulled up and you.

See it empty, or like, oh, don't go in that subway cart. It would just smell so bad. And that's what that room reminded me of, was just horrible smelling subway cars when someone had just been sitting there sitting their own feces or something like that.

Poo poo, that's the best all around weed. So it's like fart spray, yeah, but worse my kids are with fart spray.

Oh yeah. Oh so is Caine Hotter, the guy you know the main and Boorhes. He's he.

We've been having a prank war with each other over the past few years because he likes to get people with fart spray, and I've been retaliating against him. I've gotten him back a few times with other pranks. So one time I put a fart machine in his trash can at his table, but I put it between the can and the liner, so if he looked in, he didn't see the fart machine. And so when it was a little quiet and they're out, hit the button and make it go off. And I was sometimes handing to

I know it's him.

Oh my god. I love him too. And the fact that you guys have a prank war going on on, do you have like a private text chain as well?

No, we just prank each other at the commit because we've seen each other all the time. So we have fun with each other.

Oh my god, he got me.

Also this year Texas Fright Maer when I was signing at the table.

It's on video.

He's snuck up behind me and just scare the shit out of me, and I just scream.

Oh my gosh, what does your scream sound like?

At that time, it wasn't too great, was that?

Yeah?

It was? It was. It was wild. It's like if you had told myself, and like when I was.

A kid growing up, that I would be in the middle of a prank war with Jason Borhies, I would have said, you're you're shitting yourself.

So I was like, this is It's very surreal. It's a very surreal moment.

If you told me five years ago i'd be interviewing you on my own podcast, I'd be like, what, this is a surreal moment for me. Oh my gosh.

H life's crazy.

It can go any direction.

Yeah.

I think I manifested this because I wanted to meet you, and here we are. It worked out right, it did, Oh my gosh. So what's next for you? Do you want to do a wrong com I would.

I would love to get back into comedy again. I missed doing comedy because that was my thing. I was a musical theater nerd and I was a comedy nerd. That's all I did on stage. I never really did dramatic works. I because I like to make people laugh.

That's that's my calling in.

Life, is to make people laugh, bring joy to people. So I'm like, yeah, but of course I would do like a rom com. But I mean, I I I've got a few.

Other horror projects coming up.

I'm filming something in November, but I can't say where that is yet, but he's gonna be very prosthetic heavy.

But I mean, of course I want to break out of horror. I would. Of course, my dream role is playing the Joker.

I mean, I really want to be James Gunn's Joker in the DCU because I I love what he's.

Been doing with Oh. I love what he did with Guardings a Galaxy first of all, but like what he's been doing with the DCU, as.

He's so character driven with his films and he understands that the funness that is with comic book movies and TV shows, and I would I feel like he could do a lot of fun things with Joker, and I would love to be his Joker because I want to bring a comic book version of the Joker to life that's not really been done since Caecia Romero's Joker in the nineteen sixties.

I would really love that. I would really love that, So that would be Also I'm trying to manifest that.

I were going to manifest it. What do you mean it's happening. It will already happening. But I love wait so like a musical, like a musical comedy, like what would what would you do if they were to make a movie?

Oh my god, I mean I would because Little Chapahrs Is one of my favorites. I love that seeing would be something like Little Chaps, like some kind of horror thinged musical comedy or something like that.

That would be a lot of fun.

You just can't get away from the horror.

I can't. I can't.

It is now it is. It's funny how that is because I grew up. I didn't really watch a lot of horror movies growing up because my mom was so afraid of horror movies. She thought The Vincent Price Fallow The House of Usher was the scariest movie she had ever seen.

So if she was still Live Today. She was like, I would love I love you, baby, but no, I am not watching these.

Oh my gosh. And I loved Abbit and Costello when they had like the Storm.

They're so good.

It's like, I that's something I would love to do, Like, like, you know, a scary movie. I'm like, I'm so excited because I hear there's a room that the Art is going to be in Scary Movie.

I heard.

I hear the rumor that Chris Elliot is playing Art in Scary Movie six, which makes me so so happy because I've I've been a huge Chris Elliot fan since way back in the nineties.

That would make that would be great. So I was in I was in Scary Movie Too, which was the Chris Elliot one. Yeah. Yeah, so he he's so talented and so nice. He's great, but it's.

Funny, and I'm like, if anybody else is going to play Art, I'm so happy would be him because I I love him so much.

Oh I love that if Art sing a song, like if he spoke, what song would it be?

Ah, the sound of silence?

Like that would be Art's karaoke song.

Yeah, hello Darkness, my old friend.

You know you came up with that too.

Best.

You've been asked that question before.

It's just something I thought about.

I thought, No, that's actually something I thought about years ago because I was like, because one of those character things a lot of actors like to do is like what would be on a character's playlist or what song would they sing?

And I was like, that would because I I especially with him.

It's the irony of that, that's I think it would be great on.

Your resume, not the resumes even exist anymore.

That the right.

What are what? What are your special talents?

I do over two hundred voices. That's the irony of me being known for playing a silent character. I do over two h voices about twenty five different dialects.

It's it's my.

Autism superpowers, I tell people, because it's just like I don't know how I do it.

It's just that I've done since I was a kid.

That is so cool. Wait, anything else, like do you play the flute or anything?

I played piano, but not like you know, like an expert. I just do it for shits and giggles. I haven't played it in a while. I need to get back into doing that. But I'm like, Yeah, I used to be like very very limber, but now that I've hit my forties, I can't.

I'm not as double jointed as I used to be, which sucks.

But double jointed. You should do Dancing with the Stars.

That would be fun.

Season thirty four's on right now. Oh my god, people would forget well Prettysney plus like show with ABC and Hululan. Maybe yeah, but gosh, a.

Ballroom dance back in college. I used to do a lot of back in the day.

I used to it, especially because when I was in college, that's when swing dancing came back into style, like late like ninety eight, and I did a lot of swing dancing back in the day.

I used to love that.

Wow, you're a man of many talents.

Yeah, that's That's the family I came from is they all had lots of abilities. They all teachers and engineers, but they all had like artistic abilities as well.

So I guess we're like, you know, a family of Rinds on some men.

Yeah, I love that. Do you think they'll ever make an animated series of Terrified with arts clans?

It would be cool? Cool. I love something like that. I would do the voice for art, but I would.

Love Look, yeah, you might not have a job if they did that, well.

I could come in voice everybody else maybe just for fun.

It'd be like really cool to do this dark comedy like Mister Rogers but Art the Clown.

Oh mister Arts Neighborhood or something like that, like.

And it seems like it's just like one of those oh the Cloud.

Cafe basically, yeah, yeah, that'll be fun.

Would you ever do a reality show besides sans Hoopstairs and which on?

Yeah, if I did a reality show, I would want to do something maybe like Traders or something like that, because I really I've enjoyed that show that's been a lot of fun, or something like like The Mole or something like that, like something like there it's not just people sitting around in a house and just bitching at each other. I like to do something where that, like there're fun games you're playing, there's some kind of goal.

But that's why I like The Mold. There's like a mystery you're trying to solve the whole entire time.

Who's who's the one that's writing everybody else out and here screening everything up like that.

That's why I like the traders like.

Oh, who who's trying to be great?

I love that show. And plus I love Alan Comings so much. Oh my god, he's so awesome. I think they I think it would.

Be really cool to do a show like that with a bunch of horror actors and who Who's the killer?

I think that would be a great idea.

Yeah.

Yeah, I feel like they haven't really done reality. I mean, like scare tactics are like, you know, like but not like, because there's so.

Many great horror actors out there, and it's like that gives them all a chance to like all come together and do something fun like that. It's like, yes, but you have all the victims, you have all the villains, you have the heroes and heroines. You could bring all you know, all these years of horror movies. You could There's so many people you could use for something like that. It'd be a lot of fun.

Well, News Slash, you're the it guy right now, so you should make that happen.

We'll see.

Oh my gosh. Okay, and so you have a new project. What about Screamboat Scream? Oh yes, that's doing well.

There might I have not seen it? Oh no, I'm it is such a silly movie.

It's it's it's kind of like that goofy type of ridiculousness, like the Leprechaun movies were you know it's it's a lot.

Of fun movies.

Oh I do too, especially the Vegas one. I think that one's so funny.

Well so where wait, where can everyone watch screen Boat?

I believe it's on most stream pops.

I know it just got put on Peacock a few weeks ago, so it's definitely on Peacock now.

Think it's a.

Fun, little, crazy little movie, especially if you're a Disney fan. It's got so many Disney Ace Triggs throughout it, and I'm a I'm a big, huge Disney fan, so I I I was so excited just to do it because it was kind of a full circle moment for me to play Willie because my first role I.

Ever really did, like big role, was in middle school.

My high my middle school choral program did Mickey's Christmas Carol, and I was bullied a lot in middle school. I was very shy and quiet, and my mom I.

Was very funny at home, just always doing.

Crazy character stuff and my mom was like, you you need to let your classmates see the side of you.

I think that will change things for you. And she's like, your school's doing Mickey's Christmas Carol. You do a great Mickey Mouse voice. Why don't you audition for it?

And so I did and I got the role and that was That's the show that gave me my love for making people laugh, because things went wrong during the show and I started improvising right there on the spot, like the set fell down and Scrooge and I and I'm like, oh, mister Scrooge, I think we have rats, and Audis laughed.

Then our table broke during the crash at family dinner and shot the little chicken we had over the audience. I'm like, what, I guess we're having fast through to min.

It was like and when I was laughing, and I'm like, oh my gosh, for the first time at this school, I have people laughing with me instead of at me. And I'm the one with the power right now. I'm in control and I'm loving this. And that's what I was like, Mom, I want to do more of this. I want more of this. And so that's why she started getting me involved with community theater and so being able to come back and play a different version of Mickey Mouse.

Was a dream come true for me in a lot of ways because it was a nice little throwback to where I.

Started my origin in a lot of ways. And so I didn't even see the script. When the director came to me, it's like, I want you to play Willie. I'm like absolutely, absolutely, And then I saw the script and I'm like, oh, this is a fun script. It's very creative in a lot of ways. I had a lot of fun doing that film. And I know we've been shooting around ideas for a possible sequel, so hopefully that can manifest itself.

Too awesome.

Yeah, to say it's happening, it's happening. The sequel's happenings, and the works gont happen. Okay, I've taken up enough of your time. I could talk to you all day long, but will you leave us on this? Will you do a voice please that we'd be surprised to know that you do. And you just said you do over two hundred and twenty would you say you do?

Yeah, over two hundred voices? I lost count years ago.

I have a YouTube video I did, like when I did my first year on Grinch, back in twenty ten, I did about on.

One hundred and ten voices in nine minutes, just back to back, So a lot of cartoon characters.

So I mean, like a book of world record shit there.

I know. I think mel Blank had me beat, but you.

Know, oh him, oh yeah yeah.

But of course I was like, it's probably a lesser known character unless you're a child of the eighties like I am.

But it's from Ninja Turtle series of Kraying. I just always loved that voice, like.

You those.

Yeah, my mom thought I was crazy because I would do that voice with the figures, like what is wrong with you?

Oh my gosh. So you would have action figures and do the voices out loud, Oh my god, brilliant.

I would do that. I would just sit there and just do all the character voices.

Or I would make my own shows up on the spot.

And puff the magic dragon. But you're too hrutuff really.

Hr puffs and stuff.

Yeah, my gosh, that was my face, that witchy woo. Well, I'm an action figure. Can I call you Dave?

Yeah?

Sure, I'm just kidding. Okay, Hey Dave, what voice would you do for me if you had my Donna Martin action figure.

I god, tur me shopping bitches. I don't know, nice, I don't know.

I don't know that.

Yeah, it's like more like the female voices I do, or like you know, like you know, like.

Mama Clumpy's gay as I was a good old classic Eddie Murphy, you know.

The best.

Oh I love that classic Eddie Murphy. That's that's another topic for another day.

Oh well, thank you so much. I really appreciate this.

You're welcome. This was fun.

Okay, good, I'm glad you have fun. I know, I know you talk about art all the time.

So it goes with the territory.

Territory, terrifiartory, I don't know, yeah, territory, yeah, territory too.

Yeah, there we go.

Territory.

Oh, there's there's something there. I know.

Well, we'll just scuss offline. I'll d m you.

Yeah out.

Thank your girlfriend for bearing with my uh my humor today, which yeah, it wasn't intended, of course, it was intended.

Good.

Thank you, have a great day you too.

You take care bye, all right bye