Director James Watkins says he was drawn to Tom Rhys Harries’ ability to convey vulnerability and menace in equal measure when casting the actor as Matt Hagen in DC Studios’ upcoming horror thriller ‘Clayface’. Pairing him with Naomi Ackie as scientist Caitlyn proved equally decisive, with Watkins describing the chemistry between the two actors as an immediate standout.The film reimagines the story of the cult-favourite villain from Gotham’s Rogues’ Gallery. Matt Hagen’s rise from a street kid in Gotham to a Hollywood leading man is cut short when a local crime boss leaves him horribly disfigured. Abandoned by his team, Matt turns to an experimental treatment that restores his appearance but triggers disturbing physical and psychological side effects, sending him down a path of revenge.In casting the lead role, Watkins and casting director Lucy Bevan undertook an extensive search, with DC Studios giving them the freedom to pursue the actor they felt best suited the character.“[Casting director] Lucy Bevan and I spent a long time trying to work out who to cast. And DC gave us wonderful support to cast whoever felt most right. So, we probably met every actor all around in that age group. And Tom came in—I didn’t know Tom, but he had a quality about him, like with all the best actors. You can see into their soul through their eyes. And there was a vulnerability. There was a wound that he was able to access, I suppose, that I thought really corresponded with the character of Matt, to flip between darkness and sympathy…” Watkins said.The director said he put Harries through several callbacks to explore the character in greater depth. For Watkins, the challenge was making Matt relatable despite his Hollywood stardom and extraordinary transformation.“Matt’s a movie star and it’s very easy for that character not to be relatable—but we wanted somebody who was—somebody who started with nothing, who has a humbleness about him, a realness. There’s a truth, his friendships, how he behaves. And Tom brought all of that. Also, he has this ability to shift very subtly: these micro expressions between sympathetic and wounded to something more menacing, when that wound becomes a threat, which is incredibly interesting,” he added.Watkins had a similarly clear vision for Caitlyn, a scientist whose professional fascination with Matt gradually becomes entangled with something more personal. “I’ve long admired Naomi Ackie as an actress. She’s just so in the moment and alive. We met and talked and saw Caitlyn in the same way. A bugbear of mine is how scientists and journalists [I have both in my family] are often portrayed in movies: there’s a line in the script that satirises ‘movie scientists’ and I was very focussed on casting someone who could capture the single-minded clinical obsession to play a scientist at the bleeding edge. Matt is Caitlyn’s ‘project’ and Naomi completely understood how her scientific obsession could get blurred with personal obsession. There is always such nuance and intelligence in her acting,” Watkins said.The pairing ultimately sealed the decision. “Then, when we put her together with Tom, it was very clear that there was great chemistry between the two of them—how they could riff off each other with real playfulness and humour. It was a complete no-brainer for me. I have to admit, I kind of had Naomi in my head as soon as we’d cast Tom. Then it was a journey of making sure that it worked for everybody. And it was immediately clear as soon as you put them in a room with a camera on them—there was that real, fantastic chemistry,” he said.Directed by Watkins from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, based on a story by Flanagan and characters from DC, ‘Clayface’ also stars David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, Nancy Carroll and Joshua James.The film is produced by Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, James Gunn and Peter Safran, with Michael E. Uslan, Chantal Nong Vo, Lars P. Winther, Paul Ritchie, Rafi Crohn and Trevor Macy serving as executive producers.A DC Studios presentation, ‘Clayface’ is a 6th & Idaho production and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film is scheduled to release exclusively in cinemas across India on October 23, 2026, in English and Hindi.